Inquisition War: Chaos Child analysis and discussion thread

[Connor MacLeod]

Yep. We've reached the end of that roller-coaster ride known as the Inquisition War. It started out promising and interesting and its ended... weird. Even for 40K. Even for a plot involving Chaos.

I've made it clear in the past that I don't like this novel as much as the others. There's alot more unneccessary grimdark and the plot goes nowhere. It doesn't really fit with the pattern and flow of the earlier works. Jaq comes across as more selfish and more than a little deranged. It brings back feelings of Revenge of the Sith Anakin - you're just literally left wondering *why* he does the things he does. And you wonder why his companion (one a Space Marine for crying out loud!) continues to follow him blindly. I've heard it said that the plot wasn't finished and the third novel wasn't supposed to be the ending. Fair enough, but one has to ask if he really had to do the ending this way? I find it hard to believe Watson could not have written a more cohesive ending that did not involve Jaq arbitrarily going on some personal quest.

Plot concerns aside, I *DO* like Ian Watson for some of his technical stuff if nothing else. He's provided lots of calcable stuff and his character interations (Jaq Aside) were quite good. Seeing Lexandro (who I rather like from both Harlequin and Space Marine, whatever you say about the rest) and Grimm (who I also like) interact is amusing as hell. So it's not ALL bad, it could just have been a whole lot better.

Anyhow, enough ranting on my part. On with the quotes:

Page 8

Seen from space, Ulthwe craftworld resembled an ornate coral-like cathedral with the dimensions of a major moon though horizontal, not globular.

Ulthwe craftworld is noted to have the dimensions of a "major moon" which might imply dimensions tens or hundreds of kilometers in diameter, perhaps more. (largely depending on how you define "major moon", anyhow)

Page 8

Given several hundred years of peace, the psycho-plastic
wraithbone of Ulthwe would repair itself entire and empower itself anew until the shield gleamed and the gems shone. Peace was tragically lacking.
Immediately astern of the craftworld there floated a swirl of brightness and murk. Held in stasis like some baby spiral galaxy, that swirl was Ulthwe's major gateway to the webway. Through there, wraithcraft could reach far stars. That swirl was no propulsion system for the craftworld itself. Soaring ether-sails propelled Ulthwe into its flight away from a vaster and more terrible eddy several scores of light years further astern. These days the Eye of Terror seemed to be expanding more quickly than Ulthwe could outrun it.

More general crafworld tidbits - "ether sails" the ability of psychoplastics to "slowly" heal themselves, they're "scores" of light years from the EoT. Also, the "major" gateway to the webway is held externally (in stasis) outside the craftworld. Why, I have on fucking clue.

Page 9

Here, from the naked essence of Ulthwe, rose millions of trees of wraithbone. Each towering tree had grown from the spirit stone of a dead citizen, to unite their souls with Ulthwe's very being. In glades throughout the Dome numerous crystallized bodies also stood rooted. Those were farseers who had become totally attuned to this place - as Eldrad Ulthran would soon become.

"millions" of waystones since the Fall... hundreds lost each year at least. Over a span of say, 1000 years (a good estimate on Eldar lifetime?) would imply thousands lost out of the population. That might suggest populations of the craftworld in the tens of thousands or thereabouts. Certainly much less than millions, anyhow.

It's also implied Eldrad Ulthran's age (At this point) is roughly the known upper limit for Eldar age. He was what, 10,000 years old or so prior to the 13th black Crusade?

Page 12

It had been the eldar's dire plan that Draco should be ensnared by daemonic possession - and then led to salvation. Draco would become illuminated, like Zephro himself, and immune to Chaos.
Draco would become an Illuminatus, he believed. As such, he would help seek out and gather together the human Emperor's
undisclosed Sons. The Emperor had sired those Sons before He was crippled and encased in His golden throne ten thousand years previously. He did not know of their immortal existence. Those Sons were psychic blanks to Him. Nor did the Sons understand their own nature until Illuminati enlightened them.
The Sons would become sensei knights, forming the long watch. When the Emperor finally failed and when Chaos surged to
devour the cosmos, those sensei knights - all of whom were aspects of the Emperor - would fight the last fight. Or so they
believed.
The eldar's name for the last battle between reality and Chaos was Rhana Dandra. In the eldar Book of Fate it was written that the outcome of this final battle would be cosmic cataclysm, the mutual annihilation of Chaos and reality. This at least would be preferable to the triumph of Chaos.
Chaos! Four major Gods of Chaos already existed, like malign rival monarchs amidst the countless potent entities of the warp.
When the proud star-spanning eldar civilization collapsed in psychotic spasm ten millennia previously, the foul deity Slaanesh had coagulated into existence.
If the feebler human race collapsed, a fifth great Power of Chaos could emerge, finally to unhinge reality and sanity. But there was an alternative…
In the psychic ocean of the warp, fed by whatever was noble in mankind, a force of goodness could coalesce: the Numen, the luminous path, the light for New Men, to renew mankind.
Such a frail hope! Eldar farseers had glimpsed that the Numen could emerge when the Emperor finally failed - if his Sons were fused in mind-fire, if they were consumed to give birth to a phoenix of salvation and renewal. Thus the apocalypse could be averted. Farseers would steer a luminous numinous renewed cosmos. The eldar would regain a measure of glory.
Supposedly Jaq Draco was to play some small yet crucial role in this process. Alas, the exact nature of that role was shrouded in mystery. Now Draco had stolen the Book of Fate.

- Zephro recalls all the Illuminati/Starchild/Sensei stuff mentioned in the previous book for the reader's edification. So much for that plot thread.

Page 13

The slaved minds of trillions of hosts would lash out in a lethal paroxysm - the most likely result of which (so farseers feared) woudl be not the purifying purge but the unleahsing of the fifth Chaos power.

estimated number of people in the Imperium - probably superseded given 5th edition now on Hive Worlds alone, but still interesting in that it implies (ie unproven) that a united humanity could annhiilate the Chaos Gods. Or duplicate another Fall.

Page 14

Moments earlier those vessels hadn't been there. Or rather, they had been. They had been claoked in invisibility. THey had been veiled from eldar lookouts by sourcerous shielding.

- mention of Chaos ships attacking Ulthwe, "cloaked in sorcerous shielding". Chaos does something similar in "Storm of Iron".

Page 16

Spiders were swarming from out of the naked wraithbone. Those tiny white spiders materialized out of the very substance of the bone itself. Thousands of spiders, tens of thousands, in psychic defence of the craftworld! A carpet of these spiders rippled - towards the white-hot rune stones.
Of course! The stones were acting as a psychic beacon. The rune stones were in such an intense state of activation that they had guided raiders to the Dome of Crystal Seers.
Spiders surged over the stones, sizzling into steam. More followed. More again, to quench the runes. The divination was certainly at an end. How appalling that it had attracted not the hoped-for truth but disciples of Chaos instead!

Two points of interest:

- Warp Spiders acting to halt the divination acting as a beacon for Chaos. They also do this without guidance from the Eldar - presumably directed by the Craftworld's own intellect/infinity circuit, suggesting that they are able to "manifest" some sorts of entities that can interact physically with the world, albiet even briefly.

This also implies they can

- Chaos forces, which must have traveled frm the eye (ie Scores of light years) attack in the of the divination, which must be no more than minutes or hours (Zephro not needing to sleep, or eat, or sit down..) - that can work out to hundreds of thousands of c, easily. A rather impressive feat for non-astronomican warp travle, although having the divination act as a beacon no doubt explains why.

Page 17

The wraithship's high sails tacked in the thin ether. Ether? Ha! To a large degree it was radiant pressure from the Eye of Terror itself which the wraithship used to propel itself and manoeuvre.

Age of sail... in SPAAAAACCEEE!

Seriously, it is rather nice to see Ian Watson debunking that idea that Eldar seriously can use solar sails to accelerate or manuver rapidly, although its obvious he's implying its the visible spectrum emissions from the Eye of Terror doing it. It makes more sense just to say "warp magic" though.

Page 17

Scorpions fired shuriken stars from their pistols. Stars glanced off Chaos armour.

Shuriken pistols. Not much use against Chaos Power armor it seems.

Page 18

Aye, Zephro's psychic vision had been of the Tower of the Cyclops. Zephro had recognized it from horrific sketches which Rofhessi once allowed him to see. That tower stood upon the Planet of the Sorcerers in the Eye of Terror. That planet was the stronghold of magicians dedicated to the Lord of Change. Those had once been true Marines. Nowadays their foul master [Thousands Eyes SM's and their Primarch Magnus] peered through the warp by means of that cyclops eye (The eye at the top of his tower). He spied upon the realm of reality, greedy to find arcane trophies... such as sacred rune stones.

The implication here is that it is possible, psychically at least, to scan/detect across vast distances - a sort of FTL detection, in other words. Magnus had detected Eldrad's rune stones "scores of light years" away, confirming the warp calc I alluded to before.


Page 19

Black guardians fired their lasguns at the beastmen and their masters. Marines of Tzeentch responded by discharging lascannons and heavy bolters. Many bolts hit trees. Penetrating deep, the bolts exploded. Mighty trunks quivered from bole to crown. A guardian was blasted open by a bolt. Another was burnt open by a lightning spear of laser energy.[

- an Eldar guardian is blasted apart by a single CSM bolt round. Another was "burnt open" by a laser weapon (probably a las-cannon, which the Thousand Sons CSM are carrying.) Bolt round is typical of a Watson novel so need not be calced. Not sure how to calc the laser weapon, beyond "it seems similar but less efficient" than a bolter.. single or double digit MJ perhaps (charring/searing, or raising the body to boiling point, perhaps.. a temp of aorund 100-150 C).

Page 19

The daemonic lord of the Planet of Sorcereros must have sensed the loss of the Book of Fate. He must have detected earlier divinations carried out by Eldrad Ulthran. His Chaos raiders had certainly been guided in their final approach to Ulthwe by Eldrad's latest and fiercest effort to locate the Book of Rhana Dandra and its thief. Oh, fate was cruel.

Those shapeshifting ships had arrived here through the warp. They had emerged into ordinary space very close to Ulthwe indeed, so as to take its defenders by surprise. Wraithships were forever on patrol around Ulthwe. There was no star nearby to bend space so that incoming vessels must emerge billions of kilometres short of their goal. A raider might materialize suddenly above the craftworld itself - especially if guided by such a psychic beacon as Eldrad had been obliged to light.

Interesting details follow:

1 - the primary reason for the "edge of system" emergence of ships is that stars (and possibly other stellar masses) due to gravity (which is alluded to in Rogue trader 1st edition, BFG, other onvels, etc.) - it would seem that the warp portal is distorted or disrupted by the presence of gravity of a certain strength. The "billions of kilometers" seems to be a "safe" estimate for emergence, but not neccesarily a guaranteed one (since it depends on the system composition.. a gas giant on the edge of the system might require greater distance, nevermind other large masses - gravity is complicated.)

Obviously there is no hard and fast "barrier" to closer emergence, it is simply dictated by a number of factors and in general the closer you get the more dangerous it is (cf Cain's Last Stand), which may explain cases why we have emergences that occur closer - it probably is possible to have "safe" points in-system one could jump out of - I've always wondered if they could use Lagrange points, for example.

2 - Eldrad's divination served as a sort of "mini-astronomican" himself with the effect of luring Magnus's forces to the craftworld. Astropaths have been known to do similar. (on ships, or beacon networks, or whatever.) The Astronomican effect is therefore scalable, although how it scales isnt obvious. This indicates that absent the effects of gravity, great precision IS possible with warp jumps, as they come out nearly on top of the ship.

Also reiterating that the Chaos forces must have traveled from the Eye (scores of light years - its not as if Chaos forces with daemons just *happen* to roam the Imperium at will.) in a matter of minutes or hours (however long we can reasonably expect the divionation to last) - easily hundreds of thousands of times c, although still many tens of thousands if we infer that it was most or all of a day to happen (some long divination for Zephro, that.)

Page 20

The trail led back to Ulthwe. The meddlesome intruder must have been Jaq Draco himself when he had fled away from the
craftworld to find the Black Library. Through malice or through stupidity Draco had breached the seals.
Damn Draco and damn him again. He wouldn't have lingered long on that world with its daemon-in-the-moon. Just a fleeting
visit. Oh, the damage he had caused!

Gotta love it. Draco doesn't bring destruction to just himself, but to the Eldar as well (The Slaaneshi marines are apparently from his jaunt through the webway in Harlequin.) The man competes with Sarpedon of the soul drinkers for sheer dickery.

page 23

"Listen," said Grimm, "I once visited a farming moon so superstitious that even wheels were banned. 'Cos wheels represented
godless science. Perils of witchcraft, hmm? Even on that moon there were anti-grav floaters and a swanky capital equipped with a spaceport."

- Aside from being a rather predictable "grimdark science isnt known to 40K" reference, it is also a reference to an earlier short story Ian Watson did. Warped Stars, I think. Famous for a mini-Emperor kid, a crazy psychic Dreadnought, and Space Marines using lasers instead of bolters.

Page 24

Stunted peasants were in awe of Lex's superhuman stature. Was that mighty chest of his - with the ribs beneath his muscles all fused into solid bone - a human chest? What were those sockets in his spine? (Aye, through which his lost armour had once interfaced with him!) The peasants were leery of abhuman Grimm. They were dismayed by stern Jaq, and by his scaly mesh armour. However, their dialect was comprehensible - so this world could not be too detached from the Imperium.

- Amusingly, it seems entirely possible for both Lexandro and Grimm to pass as a "relatively" normal human despite his size and bulk. Humans approaching the stature of Space Marines (or Squats for that matter) in some manner must be at least a remote possibility, then, for him to pull this off. Particularily since this world is noted to be of the usual "psyker and mutant fearing and purging due to homespun ignorance and superstition" variety.

Page 24

The ''city'' proved to be a tatty town, although furnished with a landing field. Peasants would drive surplus goats there for
slaughter. Far away across a sea, goats' brains were much in demand by gourmets. It was in this town that the trio finally
discovered the name of the world they were on - a detail which had been beyond the goatherds' ken.
...
Its capital was Karesh City. Once a fortnight, chilled brains were flown to Karesh City from this province. Otherwise, the region
might have been even more isolated. The next such flight was due only a couple of days later. In exchange for bed and board at a
hostelry near the landing strip, Grimm reluctantly surrendered a finely tooled silver amulet depicting one of his ancestors.
With one of the smallest gems prised from the cover of the Book of Rhana Dandra, Lex bribed the pilot of the cargo plane.

The planet they are on, Karesh, has an airport, despite being rather low tech and agricultural.

Page 25

There it fell to Lex and Grimm to scrutinize the register of interstellar shipping due to call at this world.

Imperial bureacracy and record keeping doesn't seem totally useless, at least.

Page 25

The chirurgeons of his fortress-monastery had grafted new nervewires and synthmusclefibre and pseudoflesh in the aftermath of Lex's self-imposed penitential ordeal.

A rather different, more subtle form of augmetic really. Something like Gaunt's new eyes. The Fists must be pretty damn wealthy to afford that, although Lex is vain enoguh to favor that over a clunky one you'd expect most Marines to use.

Page 25

The interstellar merchant and passenger ship Free Enterprise of Vega seemed suitable as a route out of Karesh. According ot the reigster its captain held an ancient hereditary free charter. This captain ought to be a man of honour, unlikely to murder passengers if he suspected that their baggage was valuable. The captain wouldn't want to lose his Imperial charter to trade freely where he chose without too much obligation to the merchant fleet adminsitration.

"hereditary free charters" I am assuming makes him a free trader (as opposed to a rogue trader) - one example of the civilian side of Imperial mercantile shipping. That there are laws and limitations tied to the charter is interesting.

a "free" trader it seems is capalbe of much greater range and versatility in his trading, likely due ot the charter granting him acccess to better resources (such as a navigator perhaps?). Everyone else probably is proscribed to pre-defined routes and paths (muhc like in Dark Heresy, which this passage would seem to confirm.) Inter-sector shipping, for example.

Page 27

In a galaxy so vast, with so many urgent demands upon less than a million Space Marines - and with billions of officials involved in the Imperial Bureacracy alone - decisions might be delayed for years, ,dire though genestealers were. The outcome could take decades.

"less than a million" space marines and "billions of officials" in the Adrministratum "alone". And yes, while long term delays can occur, it does not often seem to take THAT long, save for the furthest or least important worlds. The Imperium prioritizes by location and importance really.

Page 28

If anyone caught a glimpse of those spinal sockets, why then, at some stage the slave had been used as a servitor cyborged to some bulldozer or crane.

The implication here is that the "servitor" process is reversible, although I suspect in this context "servitor" simply meant some person with the right augmetics simply plugged into a machine, rather than the "brain wiped monotask meat robot" variety.

[Kuja]

Ulthwe craftworld is noted to have the dimensions of a "major moon" which might imply dimensions tens or hundreds of kilometers in diameter, perhaps more. (largely depending on how you define "major moon", anyhow)

In "Warrior Coven" if I recall correctly, the Deathwatch actually mistake it for a small star before closing to get a better look.

It's also implied Eldrad Ulthran's age (At this point) is roughly the known upper limit for Eldar age. He was what, 10,000 years old or so prior to the 13th black Crusade?

He seems to be far older than that, even. When he makes an appearance in Fulgrim, he's already a Farseer with enough clout to make the claim "Deal with me, and you deal with Ulthwe." And that was in the 31st Millenium.

Amusingly, it seems entirely possible for both Lexandro and Grimm to pass as a "relatively" normal human despite his size and bulk. Humans approaching the stature of Space Marines (or Squats for that matter) in some manner must be at least a remote possibility, then, for him to pull this off. Particularily since this world is noted to be of the usual "psyker and mutant fearing and purging due to homespun ignorance and superstition" variety.

In "Wolfblade" Ragnar and a pair of Space Wolves are able to walk into a bar and order food without anyone batting an eye. Granted though, that was on Terra rather than some armpit world. In "Red Fury" a Blood Angels apothecary is mildly surprised when he meets a supposed member of the Mechanicum whose size and stature match his own, but doesn't give the matter much thought afterwards, so it seems there's at least some evidence for humans approaching the size of Astartes.

[PainRack]

estimated number of people in the Imperium - probably superseded given 5th edition now on Hive Worlds alone, but still interesting in that it implies (ie unproven) that a united humanity could annhiilate the Chaos Gods. Or duplicate another Fall.

Are Hive Worlds now explictly city worlds now, or does the old description of them being major urban conglomerates seperated by industrial waste/toxic environment still apply?

- Amusingly, it seems entirely possible for both Lexandro and Grimm to pass as a "relatively" normal human despite his size and bulk. Humans approaching the stature of Space Marines (or Squats for that matter) in some manner must be at least a remote possibility, then, for him to pull this off. Particularily since this world is noted to be of the usual "psyker and mutant fearing and purging due to homespun ignorance and superstition" variety.

Perhaps meeting with the Orgyrn of the Imperial Guard?

"less than a million" space marines and "billions of officials" in the Adrministratum "alone". And yes, while long term delays can occur, it does not often seem to take THAT long, save for the furthest or least important worlds. The Imperium prioritizes by location and importance really.

Have you considered the possibility of story bias? We might not be exposed to the worlds where Imperial inaction occurs, or where worlds are "doomed" to delays from Imperial action.
Certain worlds might well have easy access to reinforcements or be monitored constantly by the Imperium in a form of triage.

[Connor MacLeod]

In "Warrior Coven" if I recall correctly, the Deathwatch actually mistake it for a small star before closing to get a better look.

Yeah, I remebmer that now, I think. It was also implied the Eldar had psychic "detection" means to locate the Imperial ships at considerable range in realspace I believe.

He seems to be far older than that, even. When he makes an appearance in Fulgrim, he's already a Farseer with enough clout to make the claim "Deal with me, and you deal with Ulthwe." And that was in the 31st Millenium.

Not having read Fulgrim, I guess I stnad corrected

In "Wolfblade" Ragnar and a pair of Space Wolves are able to walk into a bar and order food without anyone batting an eye. Granted though, that was on Terra rather than some armpit world. In "Red Fury" a Blood Angels apothecary is mildly surprised when he meets a supposed member of the Mechanicum whose size and stature match his own, but doesn't give the matter much thought afterwards, so it seems there's at least some evidence for humans approaching the size of Astartes.

I remember that scene (one of my favorites) - its also indicated that the inhabitants have something of a hatred of large "space marine" sizeish humanoids due to memories of the Heresy as well, IIRC.

There was also the security guy the Inquisitor had in Ragnar's Claw - he was rather large. Not to mention Bragg of course (most people in a Ghosts novel seem to be over two meters as it is anyhow)

[Connor MacLeod]

Are Hive Worlds now explictly city worlds now, or does the old description of them being major urban conglomerates seperated by industrial waste/toxic environment still apply?

There's no real "standard" for Hive Worlds - the closest is the common "Mountain shape cylinder of metal" type really, but you get lots of variation. Stalinvast in the first novel was different, and Dark Heresy has quite a few different versions of Hives (some are mobile even, some are underwater, etc.) Quite a few hive worlds are simply underground (especially the major Guard exporters.) Some hives are "continent sized" and some are just towers reaching up into the sky (Ghospora in Assault on Black reach is 8 km wide and 80 km tall.) Early mateiral on Necromunda specified therew ere thousands of hives there that could be ~50 km in diameter, and clusters of hives (like Traizor from the Space Marine novel) could be hundreds of km across, but even then Necromunda didn't cover the whole planet.

The only city worlds OTOH are Thranx, which was exterminatus'ed IIRC. The Second Space novel mentions worlds sheathed in metal and we saw Aerius in the same novel which also was implied to be. Some earlier 1st edition or so fluff (epic I think) discussed Hives as being "city worlds" too, but most modern sources tend to go with (lots of hives packed full of people separated by vast seas of waste and pollution" a'la necromunda and Armageddon. City Worlds seem to be more of a Forge world or Industiral world thing now.

Mind you, hives show up on other worlds too.. some civilised worlds, mining worlds, or even industrial/Forrge worlds are mentioned as having hives, too.

Perhaps meeting with the Orgyrn of the Imperial Guard?

Probably not Ogryn, since they tend to be distinct from humanity due to insane size/musculature and shape and are quite obviously stupid (childlike) - they'd be alot bigger and obviously dumber than a Space Marine and wouldn't have the augmentations. More likely, some regiments are implied to be Ogryn descended or partially orgyn in racial heritage - the Kanak Skulltakers from the 4th edition Guard Codex come to mind, but when you think about some of the nasty Gangers on Necromunda I've mentioned, its not that implausible either.

As for the squats.. the Ravnor novel mentions a midget human who was said to have been "descended" from squats, at least according to legend..

Have you considered the possibility of story bias? We might not be exposed to the worlds where Imperial inaction occurs, or where worlds are "doomed" to delays from Imperial action.
Certain worlds might well have easy access to reinforcements or be monitored constantly by the Imperium in a form of triage.

That's almost certainly the case. Simply looking at the map alone shows that your average Segmentum is not consistently organized - Ultima segmentum is over twice the size of the other segmentum and extends to the ege of the astronomican's range. The other Segmentum are still well within its radius of operation, comparatively speaking (with a comfortable buffer zone, in fact.) And of course you have Segmentum solar smack dab in the middle, *(esp most worlds IIRC close to the Imperium tend to be older, more densely populated, and more technologically advanced.) Location alone will dictate differences in deployment.

To that fact you can add that most sectors subsectors represent self contained "islands" isolated by vast distances from each other in no organized pattern.

A good example is the Ghosts novels, which happen in segmentum pacificus on the edge, but is considerably closer to the Imperium's center and within range of the Astronomican. Whereas stories involving the Tyranids and Tau or Space Marines like the Ultramarines most oftne occur on the other side in Ultima Segmentum. And there's Armageddon of course, which is very close to the center of the Imperium, but is also a major world (relatively speaking, since its a major arms supplier.)

[PainRack]

There's no real "standard" for Hive Worlds - the closest is the common "Mountain shape cylinder of metal" type really, but you get lots of variation. Stalinvast in the first novel was different, and Dark Heresy has quite a few different versions of Hives (some are mobile even, some are underwater, etc.) Quite a few hive worlds are simply underground (especially the major Guard exporters.) Some hives are "continent sized" and some are just towers reaching up into the sky (Ghospora in Assault on Black reach is 8 km wide and 80 km tall.) Early mateiral on Necromunda specified therew ere thousands of hives there that could be ~50 km in diameter, and clusters of hives (like Traizor from the Space Marine novel) could be hundreds of km across, but even then Necromunda didn't cover the whole planet.

The only city worlds OTOH are Thranx, which was exterminatus'ed IIRC. The Second Space novel mentions worlds sheathed in metal and we saw Aerius in the same novel which also was implied to be. Some earlier 1st edition or so fluff (epic I think) discussed Hives as being "city worlds" too, but most modern sources tend to go with (lots of hives packed full of people separated by vast seas of waste and pollution" a'la necromunda and Armageddon. City Worlds seem to be more of a Forge world or Industiral world thing now.

Mind you, hives show up on other worlds too.. some civilised worlds, mining worlds, or even industrial/Forrge worlds are mentioned as having hives, too.

To me, it seems most authors use Hives as a generic term to describe any heavily built up urban settlement with a seedy underground. Megacity in WH40k so as to speak.

Hives cities would be worlds that have the majority of its populationo encapusulated in hives. One should note that in Let the Galaxy Burn, Armaggadeon is described to have a jungle continent where fighting against the Orks rages on. This while the areas fought over in the 2nd and 3rd Armaggadeon war are essentially wastelands that required specialised breathing apparatus for long term exposure.

Probably not Ogryn, since they tend to be distinct from humanity due to insane size/musculature and shape and are quite obviously stupid (childlike) - they'd be alot bigger and obviously dumber than a Space Marine and wouldn't have the augmentations. More likely, some regiments are implied to be Ogryn descended or partially orgyn in racial heritage - the Kanak Skulltakers from the 4th edition Guard Codex come to mind, but when you think about some of the nasty Gangers on Necromunda I've mentioned, its not that implausible either.

As for the squats.. the Ravnor novel mentions a midget human who was said to have been "descended" from squats, at least according to legend..

Assuming the in universe descriptions as true, there should be sufficient variation that different worlds may select for different types of humans, especially as worlds are cut off from Imperial access due to warp storms.
Ciphais Cain suggestion that they examine the spaceport records for immigrant heretics at Skitterfall reveals that up to a billion immigrants may have entered the world in the last century or so, suggesting that even at the best of times, relatively minor worlds have little input of "new" genes. A smaller, feral world for example may have geographical isolation that a new "race" of humans, if not abhuman emerge. This even if we ignore the taint of Chaos and its mutagenic abilities. The Imperium walks a thin line between acceptance of Psykers and persecution.

A good example is the Ghosts novels, which happen in segmentum pacificus on the edge, but is considerably closer to the Imperium's center and within range of the Astronomican. Whereas stories involving the Tyranids and Tau or Space Marines like the Ultramarines most oftne occur on the other side in Ultima Segmentum. And there's Armageddon of course, which is very close to the center of the Imperium, but is also a major world (relatively speaking, since its a major arms supplier.)

Armageddon is a pet beef actually. We do know that reinforcements can be shuffled to Armaggadeon relatively quickly. The 2nd Armaggadeon war saw elements of various Space Marine Chapters and a large Imperial Guard contingent despatched.
However, the Munitorium is simply unable to station an(in universe)large, standing garrison even as they know it has become a Mecca for Ork tribes in the region. One would have expected a standing Imperial Guard corp stationed or within reach given the nature of an Ork Waagh. Afterall, the existence of Armaggadeon itself is vital to the security of several worlds in its subsector via the provision of arms.

[Connor MacLeod]

I'll handle responses later. I just want to try to get an update out.

Page 29

The journey from Karesh to Sabulorb consisted of an intiial plasma-boost outward to the jump-zone on the periphery of the Karesh system. This took over three days. Then came a jump through the warp, of only seventy hours, yet bridghing light years. Free Enterprise emerged on the outskirts of the Lekkerbek system, a prosperous port of call.

Inward, once again for several days. Outward once again for a few days more. A second similar jump took Free Enterprise to the edge of the Sabulorb system. Since Sabulorb's sun was a massive red giant, the journey inward required almost a week.

- it takes a freighter vessel 3 days to reach the warp zone 'jump point" from a habitable planet, then "several days" to and back from another. A massive "red giant" took nearly a week to travel.. for "billions" of kilometers over a few days outlined earlier? 20-40 gees. "almost a week" at the same distance would be a mere 4-5 gees, although I consider this unlikely since it was noted to be much longer.

Page 35

Most squats who travelled outside their home systems - usually to serve the Imperium - dressed similarly, in those beloved green overalls of theirs, and quilted red flak jackets, and forage camps and big clumpy boots.

Presumably this means Squats (both male and female, given the novel itself... Grimm got married remember) were absent from their Strongholds when the Tyranids supposedly attacked. Any such absent probably got absorbed into the Imperium, making Squats just another abhuman race in the Imperium (again).

Page 42

Pilgrims thronged the port, which served long-distance aircraft as well as offworld traffic.

..

...it proved possible to hire a steam limousine with fatly inflated tyres and dark windows for transport into the city. Destination: any bureau specializing in the long-term leasing of property.

..

According to the driver of the limousine the regular population was perhaps two million. Right now the number had swollen to at least six million.

A tripling of the population suggests a rather thriving tourist industry of some kind, which in turn suggests a rather active and fairly consistent pattern of trade and transport with at least some consistent contact between worlds. We know that it happens at an inter-sector scale form sources like Abnett's novels or Dark HEresy, but it is a bit surprising to see it in this novel (or, at least I thought so) considering this tends to be "earlier" material.

Its certianly a different impression from the whole "Imperium thinly connected and largely alone in the galaxy" attitude.

Page 45

Grimm's eyesight was acute. Squats had evolved in gloomy caves and tunnels where lighting had once been scanty and power was strrictly rationed. "They only got stub guns, boss." he said.

Handguns which fired ordinary bullets were the hardware of commonplace low-life gang.

This seems to suggest they aren't considering stubguns much of a threat to them (Grimm's flak jacket, LEx's Space Marine physique, or Jaq's mesh armor.) and that their own weaponry (bolt guns nad laspistols) is superior in damage... Considering the calibre of most stub weapons (large, heavy bullets) this perhaps says something about comparisons of relative firepower.


Page 46

By contrast, laspistols were silent in operation. If the aim was inaccurate, the scalpel-blade of energy soon dispersed. Whener a las-pulse met its target: such lacerating flare-up, such a scream of agony, if the victum still had the breath and lungs and heart to scream.
Perhaps ten of the pilgrams had fled. A score more lay dead or dying, almost all thanks to the laspistols."

Laspistol shot does enough damage to destroy heart and lungs, suggestive of putting at least a fist-sized hole in the target, probably bigger (to take out the lungs at least would suggest a rather large hole). Damage effects would be similar to the effects described for more lowe end bolters (the "head exploding" kind). Double digit kilojoule easily, even for mechanical damage, and triple digit kilojoule (approaching a good fraction of grenade damage) isn't impossible, especially if we factor in possible thermal effects. Taking out heart and lungs would require at least affecting several kilos of flesh alone, and raising it to boiling point (37C to 100C) would need several hundred kilojoules per kg.
The description is rather flowery, but it does suggest the "explosive" effects depicted in other works as mentioned elsewhere. The lack of blood spurting anywhere or leaking out would also suggest coagulation or cauterization as well, indicative of not-insignificant thermal effects as well.
Page 50

Finally this report was dispatched thirty light years to the office of the Cardinal Astral, who was responsible for a diocese many hundreds of cubic light years in volume.

A "diocese" being hundreds of cubic LY would suggest something broadly in subsector size if taken literally, if a rather small one (10 LY radius for example.) A sector is millions of cubic light years as per BFG, by contrast.
Page50

The majority of these relics proved to be forgeries: mere solid models of bolt shells - with no armour-piercing tip, nor propellants, nor mass-reactive detonator, nor explosive.

components of a bolter shell.
Page 55

Jaq recalled a courthouse he had once visited, on a warmer world. Its gates had always been wide open. vigilant Arbites had scanned the crouds within the courtyard. That courtyard had supported a whole community of arguing petitioners who might have been camping there for weeks or months on end, and of caterers who served herbal tea and spiced cakes to the petitioners, and of cooks who brewed and baked, and of clerks who took depositions, and of legal counsels who coached petitioners in the phrasing of their depositions, all of which concerned nicetiies of Imperial decrees which had been delivered hundreds or even thousands of years earlier. Some petitioners might spend half their lives in that great guarded yard, whcih was only the outermost region of the courthouse. The most devout supplicants might even become recruits to the ranks of the warrior-Arbitrators, their original legal case no longer of anyn significance to them.

Jaq recalls a courthouse. Imperial laws are cumbersome to say the least. (one should note that this is Imperial law.. stuff dealing with the Imperium as a whole like tithing or suppressing mutants and psykers and rebellions and heresy, which can be different from local law)

[Connor MacLeod]

next Chaos Child installment. I'm thinking that after I finish this, I'll start with the Space Wolf novels. Any thoughts on that? Or maybe Farseer.

Page 58

The coins began to explode amidst the crowd.
"Frag grenades!" Exclaimed Grimm, ducking low.
Fragmentation grenades, no less. Those tubes coupled to the lasgun barrels were grenade launchers.
Each grenade was shattering into scores of zipping razor-sharp slices. These tore through clothing. they lacerated flesh. They severed arteries and windpipes. They maimed and blinded. They slashed runes of blood upon upraised hands and cheeks.

This was a time the Imperium used more compact grenades more freely. Although it cuold be argued that these were just highly specialist gear.. possibly with some tradeoffs to allow for the greater number (hence why

Page 58
- later use of "choke gas" and "flash-flares" and frag grenades from underslung launchres.
Page 61

Their helmets filtered the lingering choke-gas, which had not drifted in the direction of the crouching trio.

Arbitrator helmets are sealed against gas attacks, at least. Oddly at this point they dont seem to be armored in any other way.
Page 66

"Squats" Grimm corrected him tetchily. "I've spotted a few of us as well. Engineers of starships, probably. Us squats like to travel and see the sights. If I do run into one of my kin I shan't be doing much hobnobbing, let me assure you."

Squats like to travel and often serve aboard other starships. This suggests that some (many?) were away from their home worlds when the tyranids struck.
Page 68

As to the resemblence, why, ,there were only so many possible permutations of physical appearance amongst human beings. Billions of variations certainly existed on the human theme - yet in a galaxy of a million populated worlds trillions and trillions of people seethed.

a bit on populations and variations in the galaxy. Might have implications for the actual scale of the galaxy.

Page 72
- an elderly human "one hundred and ten Imperial years" old. This may be extraordinary, but this seems to suggest a different lifespan available to "normal" humans compared to what Schaeffer implied in "Annihilation Squad.",a lthough its possible this lady is rather exceptional. Still, coinsidering she's largely a crippled beggar on a relatively low tech backwater iwth a small population (and not liekly much standards of health or medicine or hygine) this is rather remarkable. One would still presume that in more civilized areas such lifespans would be possible.

Page 75

Lex alone could see clearly over the heads and hoods and hats bearing True Face badges - although the focus of his vision was a full kilometre away.

He can make out enough at that range to see what they're doing at least (Opening the reqliquary, for example and struggle breaking out at the front of the crowd near the bafflers..) Indicaitive roughly of the unaided eyesight of a Space Marine. Useful in other sources (Assault on Black Reach implies "magnified" range of many kilometeres for a space marine) and it impacts weapons ranges in the 2nd Danw of War novel.

Page 75

Deacons must resort to autoguns and shotguns. Now they fired high-velocity caseless shot and low-velocity fragmentation shot.

- autoguns using "high velocity caseless shot" and shotguns using "low velocity fragmentation shot."

Note the deacons also had stunguns, and they did try using nonlethal weapons first.

Page 76

Just days prior to the invasion by the renegades of Chaos, Space Marines of the Raven Guard had refuelled on Askandar and their ship had departed for the jump-zone. Messaged by astropath before the governor's palacee was destroyed, the Ravens had now turned back. They would reach Askandar in another two days.

2 days to cover an unknown distance in the system.

Page 77

The bolt hit the left side of his breastplate. It penetrated at least some way. CRUMP. It exploded. The warriro swung around, arms flailing.

...

The vambrace shielding the target's forearm intercepted the bolt. CRUMP. An arm was crippled. Pray that sufficient damage had been done ot the invader's reinforceed chest to collapse a lung!

Effects of a bolt round impacting on Power ramor. Implied that power armor plus the Marine's physique enhancement could provide it against the round.

Page 77

Air was being superheated by a beam from a meltagun. Moments later: a terrible roar! The beam had caught the upper ends of some fallen roof-timbers jutting from the bathing pool. The moisture in the wood had vaporised. The timbers exploded. Daggers of wood and splinters flew like quills discharged by an enraged hystirx beast...
...

The beam from the meltagun caught his exposed head. In a trice his eyes vaporised, and his chubby cheeks, and all of his face. It was as if his head had been sprayed with an instantly acting acid which stripped his head to a skull - a skull within which the brain liquified and boiled, grey steam surging from his ear holes and bursting upward from his rupturing fontanelle.

Meltagun effects.

[Connor MacLeod]

Next update for Chaos Child

Page 85

The inhhabitants of Rakel's world couldn't help but breathe in spores of the lichen at fruiting time. A weak form of the drug (polymorphine) pervaded their bodies, and the bodies of lcoal animals too. All could alter their appearanece temporarily to a certain extent. Yet not to the extent hta ssassins achieved.

Assassins obtain the stuff to make polymorphine from this same planet, as well as use it for training and hunting. Its interesting to note they also mention it being made by psychic shamans to be used to change their features to take on the appearance of ancestors and facilitate communication. This implies a psychic connection perhaps between polymorphine and likely between mutation in general and the warp. (Big shock?)

Page 86

Devout Space Marine surgeons must experiemnt upon mind-slaved prisoners and failed cadets in their unending programme of research into the capacities and shortcomings of those organ implants which rendered such a man as Lex superhuman.

Assassin scientists studeied the stability of metamorphoses.

Indepdent research conducted by non AdMech affiliated folk? Up to debate.


Page 91-93

- Jaq uses the Assassin Card (which looks like Meh'lindi) to help Rakel stablize the polymorphine in her body and to take on Meh'Lindi's shape (better). This again suggests a measure of psychic element to polymorphine (As if its technobabble nature didnt demand something magical anyhow..)

Page 99

For Lex, with his supplementary preomnor stomach and his purifying oolitic kidney, indulgence would be futile.

As we learn in Space Marine and the Space Wolf novels, getting an Astarted drunk is hard.

Page 105

Deprived of his power armour and interfeace with its calculator, Lex coudl not see telescopically. No magnified image fed directly into his visual cortex now.

Visual limitiatons of LEx without his power armor.


Page 106[b/]

With a monomolecular blade she severed the dead woman's head at the base of the neck, Grimm had contrived a hookign device.

Not sure where the knife had come from - whether Rakel owned it or she borrowed it from someoen else (like Lex.) I don't remember Lex keeping the knife from his space Marine armour, though. Nevermind that space Marine combat knives IIRC are typically quite a bit larger than normal human ones (almost short swords of their own I believe), so my gut instinct is that it was either Rakel's or she borrowed it from Jaq and Grimm (although neither was explicitly mentioned to my memory to carry such a blade.)

Page 117

Rakel filched a hypno-casque frrom the Mercantile College in the southerly Saudigar district.

..

The data disk in this partticular casque was programmed with standard Imperial Gothic, for the use of exporters who intended to travel off-world.

..

Next, Rakel stole a laser-scalpel from the Hakim Hospitalery. Grimm bought certian equipment in the industrial district. Lex rigged up an imaging system so that he could observe Azul Petrov's warp-eye without looking at it directly.

A glimpse at some forms of the Imperial educational system, and its uses (casques can be put to mundane uses like teaching language to merchants), its portability (you can thieve it) and another reference to the ability to observe warp eyes and defeat their dangers.

Page 120

Stub guns emerged from the rags of two of the opportunists. The two others produced gaudy swords shaped like meat-cleavers. Evidently the sword blades were of plastic - sharp flexible plastic, its substance dyed a streaky blood-red in the manufacture so as to convey a menacing impression of butchery.

Plastic knives. I dont even know if thats feasible, but if it isnt it says something about Imperial materials scinece I would say. (magic plastic?)

PAge 121

The first man had tired of dialogue. He fired his stub gun at Jaq's chest, that being the broadest target.

Under Jaq's punctured robe his mesh armour had stiffened instantly, absorbing and spreading the impact. Compared with a hit from an explosive bolt the blow had almost been trivial. The squashed bullet fell at JAq's feet.

Another slug hit Jaq as he drew his laspistol and fired. The erupting enerrgy packet threw the gunman backwards.

...

"Not moving! Or lasering your legs!"
And thus becoming a cripple.

Jaq's Eldar Mesh is basically immune to slug fire. The shot is described as "triviial" compared to a bolter (which is saying something since your average stubber is easily a .45+ mag equivalent.) It tells us something abou tthe ballistic properties of a bolter, at least.

Also Jaq's laspistol has enough power to it to knock a guy down (whether from explosive effect or froms ome sort of involuntary reflex the strike tirggered i sup for debate) and can cripple a person's legs. (not very quantifiable)

Page 122-123

Security men in cheap grey flak armour...

..

"Armour looks like a job-lot of cast-offs from the Imperial Guard," opined Grimm.

Sabulorb, of course, contributed its tithe of a regiment of its best fighters to the Imperium: specialists, in this case, in cold desert warfare. The Sabulorb regiments would be elsewhere in the cosmos. These men must have served their term of duty and returned to their homeworld.

Interesting details. The Guard apparently sells off some of its "old" (used? obsolete?) gear - probably to PDFs or merchant forces. It's also interesting to note that these Guard forces were actually returned to their home world, rather than being taken on some rite of conquest or incorporated into a larger or whole new regiment with other castoffs. Perhaps the Imperium returned them so that their experiences and time could serve as a "civilizing influence" on the rest of the populace as a sort of "self improvement" effort.


Page 123

In case of emergency, troops could be airlifted to reinforce the garrison in shandabar.

- in emergencies the forces of the planetary army could be airlifted to reinforce garrisons elsewhere, although whether this applies to Guard forces as a rule is unknown. It may simply be a requisitioned cpaability for garrisons (As described in the first third edition codex.)

Page 123

There in the north was the main base for the planetary army, which Lord Badshah preferred ot keep well away from the capital. In case o femergency, troops could be airlifted to reinfroce the garrison in Shandabar. Meanwhile, the bulk of the army suppressed various recalcitrant warring tribes and press-ganged new soldiery, the best of whom would be sent off-world.

Again, garrison troops (although it implies PDF here) can be airlifted where they need to be. Also note that the best troops are reserved for the Guard.

[Connor MacLeod]

More Chaos Child updates... Chaos attacks and yet again.. Jaq proves the insturment of the destruction of the world. He is like an Inquisitorial Sarpedon...

Anyways, enjoy:

Page 126

Jaq strove to imagine her functioning as a regular astropath, transmitting and receiving coded messages or streams of commercial data.

Astropaths here mentioend as use for commercial purposes, which indicates they have to be fairly common to do that.

Page 130

"Hey, what's a Finger of Glory?" asked Grimm.

"It's a finger from someone who died abominably," she said. "You pickle it during suitable invocations. You can dry it. IF later you light it, it'll show your way and at the same time hide your presence- until it burns out."

Bite-sized version of the hand of Glory a sci fi/fantasy staple.

Page 136

Twin pendants dangled from the man's nostrils, like hardened plugs of mucus. Probably those were gas filters.

Apparenlty the helmets aren't sealed, so they need separate filters. Of course it might vary from world to world. nothing says the ARbites don't vary in their equipment loadouts the way the Guard can.

Page 139

Instantly Rakel raised the lasrifle and fired at that fur-clad mountain of a man.
..
Her second shot threw Drork backward against the book of discs. The turntable spun. Two tall plastic pages clapped together, trapping the dying clerk between them.

implied momentum from the lasbolt impact. If the effect is "explosive" enough it could do just that. If we could approximate mass and velocity we could probalby approximate a rough idea.

For example, if the man were 50 kg and knocked back at say, 1-2 m/s, the momentum imparted to him would be 50-100 kg*m/s. If the vapor were moving at oh, 1500 m/s (speed of sound in water), ~33-67 grams of mass would need to be vaporized ~

at 33 grams ~83 kilojoules to vaporize, and ahother 37 kj or so of KE.

at 67 grams, ~168 kilojoules to vaporize, plus ~70 kj or so of KE.. so call it somewhere (broadly) in the double or triple digit kilojoule range per shot.

Page 143

"Maybe a relatively minor shock might be enough to destabilize the white dwarf core. A warp-storm occuring locally. Even a warp-ship materializing accidentally within the star and disrupting the fabric of space before evaporating."

- locally occuring warp storms could destabilize (touch off?) a white dwarf star, triggering a nova (or nova-like event). A warp-ship materializing inside a star could also disrupt the fabric of space before it is destroyed (and presumably also touch of a nova.) This is persumably one of the dangers of opening a warp portal too close in system, and perhaps another reason why it isnt done often.


Page 146

- Eldar Harlequins are known to visit worlds of the Imperium to perform. Sometimes in disguise, sometimes openly.

Page 152-153

From a passageway on the far side, two more [arbites] emerged. Crossfire flew. An energy blast caught Grimm on the very edge of his flak-jacket, bowling him over, but the squat was able to scramble to his knees.

Grimm's flak armor takes a glancing las-bolt that is sufficent enough to knock him off balance, but is otherwise unharmed. Qualitatively (at least as far as the early editions were concerned) most flak armor was mostly the same, although it could be argued Squats make better armor.

Paged 155

No spangles, those - but tiny spinning razor-discs propelled at high speed by a compact gravitic accelerator. Those tiny discs would scalpel through flesh, severing arteries, ,piercing internal organs, cutting bone.

Shuriken weapon sand their nasty cutting effcts. Gravitic weapons suggests Eldar style rather than "copycat" human ones (which probably fall more into the "needler" category anyhow)

Page 156

Strapped to the back of the Jester's forearm was a tube bonded to an egg-shaped resivoir. The Jester clenched his fist and punched the air in front of him. Briefly the interloper wobbled as if he had become a jelly, and collapsed. What had been a man had become a bag of minced organs braced with bones.

Such was the consequence of the monofilament wire which had leapt from that tube to pierce its victim's body and uncoil within his entrials. Thrashing about like a whip, the wire had reduced guts and liver and lungs and heart to a slurry.
The wire had leapt back to its container, curling tight.

already it was jumping out again, kissing the next man with the same consequences.

The Harlequin's kiss makes another appearance in the Inquisition War series. Apparently the weapon is used at range again here, but the exact distnace isn't clear (alot less than 100 metres though, I'd gather.)

Page 157

unlike the helmets worn by eldar aspect warriors, that Death Jester's mask wasn't sealed against the atmosphere. Inside the cloudy room the tall figure was staggering, bending over, wracked.

- Eldar Harlequin (Deaht Jester) helmets and suits aren't sealed against atmosphere (*unlike aspect warriors, or spacec marines.) In this case it was choke grenades launched from an arbites lasrifle. One imagines that Guardian masks probably aren't either. Although this might be purely a Harlequin feature.

Page 161

"According ot the doctrine of Tranglam - which some call the theory of Chaos - our farseers declared that a small perturbation sometimes has huge consequences when cirucmstances are vulnerable to change. A night-moth flutters it swings and causes a subsequent storm half a world away. If this is true of a mere moth, how much more so of energies spilling from the psychopotent warp? The weather gives cause for concern."

This is peaking of increased planetary temperature due to flucutations in the aforementioned dwarf star - the Eldar Harlequin in question seems to be attributing this to chaos activity (I'm not sure whether its Jaq's own dabbling with the Book of Fate and other matters, but this seems likely given others) but he indicates that things in reality can serve as indiators of warp activity. Or, at least, abnormal behaviour or stuff that doesnt fit to science probably can.

Its an interesting glimpse into how the nature of the warp and its interaction with normal space can influence things in more subtle ways than just the usual "creating crazy ass three headed dog/monkey/human mutations or turning people into crazy tutu wearing catachan sadomastocists - cookie for the reference)

Page 162-163

At once crystalline and protoplasmic, this cupola pulsed inwardly, scrying through the warp into the realm of ordinary reality far from the Eye of Terror, detecting ripples of psychic activity.

...
With his own single eye Magnus spied through the telescope of that other baleful cyclops-eye surmounting the watchtower. In a rapture or rapport he had detected the divinations of alien farseers desperate to recover the Book of Fate thieved from their secret library. His spying was part psychic perception, part symbolic vision, part interpretive intuition.

Through the warp his followers had flown to attack the site of those alien divinations, to disrupt and disorient.

...

The shape-shifting ships from the Planet of the Sorcerors each carried a crystalline seer-scope similar to the eye on the watchtower. By seer-scope they could track the glow of psychic activity.,

The Thousands Sons and Magnus have psychic/warp means of scanning or detecting objects and psychic activity distantly and observing them in realspace. Logically this probably could be duplicated by other psykers/astropaths, and therefore explain instances of uspposed "FTL detection" observed in various instances (the psyker would transmit the data via MIU to computers and stuff which would translate it into somethign meaningful on a display.)

Its also interesting to note that these ships are warp capable, and must have traveled fairly quickly to the planet (certainly alot less than a year) over a considerable distance (I dont remember exactly where they were)

A warp device to observe objects realtime magically was also seen in "Eye of terror" - an eyepiece that could do so and originated in the EoT, so this isnt a singular example.


Page 168

one cruel brute toted a heavy bolter cloisonned with screaming, fang-bearing lips. That backbreaking bruiser of a gun could knock out a lightly-armoured vehicle, let alone a man. Power armour easilly sustained such weight. The bolter clutched in the other intruder's metalled fist seemed like a toy by comparison.

heavy bolter with anti-vehicle as well as antipersonnel cpaability.

Page 173

"Daemonry!" cried Jaq with a terrible joy. his prayer was answered. "The suit's sorcerously synched to its wearer. It's psychically synched."

The method of "connection" was countless little mouth-sucker like thingies that latched onto the flesh of the marine (and then Jaq) - symbolic I believ eof Tzeentch, who is sometimes depicted as having numerous mouths. It seems that CSM evolves its own means of operation different from what convenitonal Space Marine armor does.

Page 173

As thouigh to compensate for its progressive exposure to view, that ship wavered. It began to shift its shape, at least in the eye of the beholder. Miniature holo-projectors studding the hull must be generating a false semblance, a faceted camouflage; unless the daemonic power of change could manipualte the veery material of that ship into new contours and configurations.

Another example of 40K stealth capabilities, or at least suspected kinds.

Page 179

Lex in torment saw the whole cosmos burst forth frfom a mere bubble in the energy-warp. A sparrow's fart the universe was! That fart inflated suddenly. It caught fire and exploded outward. Gas became matter. Spacee ballooned to accomodate the gush. Matter beacme the stars and worlds of a billion galaxies. All was mere froth upon the surging unseen ocean of the warp. Finally the pull of the warp would drag all galaxies and all space back together again, abolishing this temporary interruption which was the whole of space and time, and all of struggling, suffering life.

The lusts and rages of life caused terrible entitites to coalesce in the warp, and to give rise to sub-entitites, to daemons and sub-daemons. Daemons clawed at reality to try to drag it and its denizens back into the warp prematurely.

An interesting view on how the universe was formed and the relation of the warp into it. Not sure if its true or not, not like you can trust anythign from teh daemonic wholly.

[Connor MacLeod]

Chaos Child update - yet more of the planetary battle, leading up to its destruction and Jaq's escape (although this is the last planet he will be directly or indirectly responsible for destroying, trust me.) getting close to the end too.

Page 189

Incandescent shells of plasma burst against their target. Waves of heat radiated, accompanied by thunderous shock. Parts of the target were converted into superheated ionized gas. If confined, this would have been thermonuclear in intensity.

- This is from plasma weapon fire upon a Chaos vehicle (shuttle, perhaps of some kind) from an Eldar grav cycle called a Vyper (larger than jetbikes, though.) Effects are partly thermal and partly mechanical (explosive vaporization) The implicaton is similar to "thermonuclear" although this might not neccesarily imply yield (even if it does it doesnt tell us the kind of yield - some nukes can be sub kiloton after all.)

All we could say is that its arguably greater than most conventional explosives, and this is a vehicle weapon, and not a personal weapon.

Page 190

Heavy bullets belched from the big stubbers. Laser-packets rocketed pyrotechnically. THey were like fireworks hurled against steel. Those renegades were armoured strongly enough to cause heavy bullets merely to ricochet.[

- CSM armor is highly resilient to sustained/concentrated heavy stubber fire (it ricochets.) and las-fire.

Page 191

A small and wobbling minor sun: that was the plasma torch of the Chaos ship.

With a vane missing, and with the other weakening it had suffered, that ship might well be unsteerable. If it achieved escape velocity the renegade ship might only plunge onward through space... until in a few days time - or much earlier, ,depending on velocity - it fell into the embrace of the vast red sun. How deeply would it penetrate the furnace-hot outer gases before exploding?

Or would the pilot suicidally activate the warp-drive to escape this fate, annihilating his vessel and disrupting space in its vicinity, sending a shock-wave inward through the contracting red giant?

On the vast scale of a sun, this would be a puny enough shockwave, but perhaps significant. A dying butterfly begetting a tempest.

without some technobabble vane the ship can no longer steer. This implies Chaos ships (or at least the ones the Thousand sons used) relied on some exotic means of manuvering than just thrusters or jets.

It also implies it would cross the distance between the star and the planet in "a few days or less" - not really calcable though since its not a normal star to begin with, and if it were it would be alot closer to the planet htan sol is. Nonetheless if it were a 1 AU distance it could be at least single digit gees - not bad for a shuttle.

Page 192

It happened that an airborne troop carrier arrived at Shandabar's spaceport from the northerly continent prior to the storm. On board were two hundred hardened soldiers. THey were due to be sent off-world to join the Sabulorb regiments. A transport ship of the Imperial Guard had landed at the spaceport to receive the new intake. Two squads of veteran Guards were escorts.

200 troops ( a company?) gets airlifted from the garrison to investigate. It seems reasonable to conclude that if the capacity exists for something the Guard needs, they can requisition it from local forces if available - troop transports of various kinds (ground or air), sub-stellar craft, shuttles, skimmers (grav or otherwise), aerial support, etc. This ability is probably meant to offset the lack of such "organic" support in the regiment in a defensive role. Offensively it would come from the Navy.


Page 193

Veterans and hardened recruits disembarked from the spacecraft to be met by all available surface troop carriers of the spaceport garrison, bulging armoured skirt-plates protecting their huge desert-tyres. Shortly after these vehicles had left the spaceporrt, an unidentified vessel descended frfom orbit without warning or permission. During the final stages of its descent, it fired a plasma cannon at that almost empty Imperial Guard ship upon the ground. The Guard ship exploded. Scattered wreckeled crippled the nearby troop carrier.

Again not only air lifting capcaity, but ground vehicles of some kind (again presumably requisitioned from local forces.) The chaos ship (Thousand Sons again, presumably) appears out of nowhere then blasts the troop transport.

Page 195

If two million people - minus a few thousand suffocated corpses - all disobeyed, what could mere hundreds of arbites do?

- on Sabulorb, there are a "few hundred" arbites troops for ~ 2 million persons. If we take this to mean 200 the ratio is 1 Arbites per 10,000 people. If we assumed 1,000 Arbites, thta could be 1 per 2,000. LArger worlds would be expected to have hundreds of thousands, or millions (Civilised and Hive worlds.) Tens or hundreds of billions through the galaxy, perhaps.

Page 196 - Jaq and co are riding on a Land train of some kind across the desert. Its equipped with "automated autoguns" for defense.

Page 197-198 - The city/capital is destroyed in a naturally occuring firestorm/explosion triggere dby the sandstorms. The Chaos ship attacking the porrt and destroying ships is destroyed in the firestorm. Jaq asks if it was a nuke, ,suggesting the results at least approximated some kind of nuclear detonation.

Page 211

The keen-sensed eldar must have perceived a distinction. Shouldering his lasgun, the guardian fired towards the source of the sound.

He missed the gunman, but the energy packet erupted against the rear of the limousine. Bodywork tore open. Fumes gushed from a ruptured tank, igniting. Briefly a flame-thrower was spouting into the air.

Eldar guardians must be pretty dman good shots to be able to evne try firing blind like that. I am not sure how to quantify the ability of a las-shot to puncture a limo and ignite it sfuel tank like that.

Page 216

Into sight in the glowing sky came a larrge troop transporter, flying slowly.

Guard troop transport, as I recall. Airlifted and paratroop forces as we see.

Page 217

"Must be from the northern continent..."
...

Bodies began to fall out. White chutes opened up. Bodies were drifting down - troops in mottled yellow and gray desert-camouflage, long-barrelled lasguns slung around their necks.

..

A hundreds and fifty of the troops, at least!

Drop commandos, or at least playing at that role, although using actual parachutes rather than grav chutes.

Page 218

Grimm shot the nearest of the hermits, wrecking his chest.

The hermit is a genestealer hybrid, and Grimm is using a bolt gun. Considering unarmored humans uusally have their chests (or more) blasted apart by such hits, it says something that a genestealer is still actually mostly intact.


Page 228-229 - Lex has his eye poked out with a knife (well mostly poked out) to let his arm glow again (LEx believes this is the spirit of his comrades from Space Marine or the Light of Rogal Dorn guiding him)

While it is tempting to decide that Lex is merely a latent psyker, this has happened before in the Space Marine novel, and has happened to other Marines in other novels (The first Blood angels duology to Rafen) enough for the idea that this is a manifestation of the Primarch's soul (or the soul of Lex's former comrades) as a sort of "angelic manifestation" like what happened to Larkin in Ghostmaker or Gaunt in Straight Silver. One could also liken it to what happens with your typical Emperor's Champion (EG Black Templars Champions) who often receive divine visions.

Page 228

"When eventually I rejoin my Chapter, our chirurgeons and apothecareis can fit me with an artificial oculus."

In this novel I assume it means an actual eye, like what Gaunt gets after Only in Death - as opposed to the big clunky and nasty looking augmetics you usually use.

[Connor MacLeod]

Chaos Child... only a few more updates left and then I'm done with the Ian Watson stuff mostly.

Page 231

Apart from such a ghastly possibility [Phoenix Lords being met], they would certainly not meet any ordinary travellers. At most they might sense a fleeting ghost passing by, out of phase with themselves. Such was the nature of the webway. Each traveller or group of travellers occupied a unique quantum of time. Two groups who set out at separate times from separate places could not coincide at the same time and the same place within this galaxy-spanning network.

Not only does the webway mess with time and space, but also with dimensions as well, or some such, since occupants seem to be largely "out of phase" with each other.


Page 231

- The webway evidently has a sort of "stasis/timelessness" about it that negates biological necessities like eating or sleeping (or at least puts them in abeyance while in the webway.) It is unlikely to be a "true" stasis of time, since previous novels indicated that only certain places in the webway are truly "timeless" (the places where Harlequins, Phoenix Lords or Illuminati like Carnelian resided to wait out the centuries without aging).


Page 231

A shaggy brindled beast reared and snarled, baring hooked yellow fangs. A tufted tail thrashed from side to side. The cave was a den.

With his laspistol Grimm shot the animal twice. Its charred body toppled into the pool.

Again more thermal than explosive effects this time, but no idea how big the beat was or how much was charred. If we assume it charred a large part of the body and relied on burns to do it it could take hundreds of kilojoules or more (although the burns would have to be very deep AND severe to kill so quick - even third degree burns aren't immediately fatal, so this could be consertavite) The problem though is that unless the shots expand one is left to wonder how they could cook large areas at once. One of the problems of lasgun inconsistency I have had to deal with (thermal vs explosive effects)

Page 240

Tyranid hive-fleets came from way across the intergalactic gulf, two million light years or more. Presumably they had striped a previous galaxy bare of all life.

Their very ships were organic creatures, compounded of thousands of modified creatures slavishly linked by an empathic central gland. Throughout the vast fleet of millions of vessels and sub-
vessels a collective mind presided. Destroy ten thousand vessels (if only one could!) and still the mind presided. Destroy a hundred thousand (vain hope!) and still the mind would be relatively unimpaired.

Description of the tyranids and the scope of their fleets. I'm not sure if they have any real evidence of the "millison of ligth years" distance or not, but if so that implies almost certainly some form of FTL had to be used,

Page 243

The stripping and proceessing of the life on this world was only commencing. The full task might take ten years or twenty.

...

Eventually, even worms and beetled would be gathered, sifted out. Even microbes and bacteria would be gleaned by microscopic nano-collectors, until there was utter sterility, and that sterility was further sterilized by fire.

Tyranids apparently got better at eating worlds, since later sources indicate it could take as little as a few months or less to completely invade and consume a world's resources. That they collect even the smallest forms of life says something, as life can reside kilometers below the surface.

Page 245

One of the vilest bio-weapons used by the tyranids. The organic gun consisted of three types of creature bonded together. In a hot,
wet womb, hard-shelled toxic maggots were bred as ammunition. When firing occurred, a slimy spider-jawed creature would seize
a maggot and strip it of its shell, laying bare the corrosive flesh. To rid itself of contact with the caustic body-fluids, the jutting
bowel of the gun would spasm, ejecting the poisonous maggot-flesh through the air at high speed. The slimy flesh, itself burning
in agony at contact with oxygen, was like phosphorus to any victim which it spattered against.

Nasty weapon the tyranids have, especially if its likened to phosphorus.

Page 248

"You mean more like a topological twist? A geometric anomaly? Sort of like causes the zero-energy containment field controlling the warp-core in a neoplasma reactor?"

...

"Those magi," Grimm muttered under his breath, "whose devout experiments with squattish warp-core tech resulted in the buggering-up of Ganymede."

Ah yes, the good old "neoplasma reactors". It's also worth noting 2nd editions ources specified that Squats had the ability to use "warp fission" as a power source. Again the implication here is that plasma (and neoplasma) reactors are tied to the warp in some way, although it may also mean they are used to power warp cores I suppose - although in many sources the power sources used to power warp drives also power everything else anyhow so..

Page 251-252

"A thudd gun's a significant target,' said Lex. "We must hope that a battle cannon or a big beam projector is used to assail it; soon, and devastatingly!" He scanned the unreinforced arches ingeniously holding up the roof of slabs. "We should shelter just inside the webway portal, and pray for a direct hit.

..
The demolished stronghold, which had been a firing platform for the now-disintegrated thudd gun, was atop a precipitous hill overlooking a sweeping valley. The hill might be the core of an extinct ancient volcano, with the remnant of a crater. The crypt had been built in the crater. Above had been piled the stronghold, now reduced to a jumble of jagged stone teeth like some orkish idea of battlements. Ideal location for a thudd g un, which lobbed shells high into the air. From here they would travel further than usual and descend with a more devastating armour-splitting impact.

They know there probably is a building above them (whehre the Thudd gun is emplaced.) Jaq apparently thinks that a battle cannon shell could have caused the devastation that freed them from their underground tomb.


PAge 252

Such vehicles were in their midst. Battle tanks and superheavy tanks, mobile battle cannons, specialist artillery carriages, four-barrelled lascannon on motorized track-units. Dwarfing all these were numerous Titans, gargantuan war machines with autocannon and plasm acannon and chainsword arms, their energy shields flushing as they soaked up a surfeit of incomign fire

Note the "mobile battle cannons" that apparently aren't tanks.. and the four barreled lascannon on track units (Rapier laser destroyers, probably.)

Page 253

Rapier lasers targeted Titans, trying to bering their four thrusts of energy to converge exactly upon the void shield of a lurching target. Titans blasted at the track-units carrying the massive rapiers.

Like I said, rapier laser destroyers are probably those "four barelled lascannon" on track units mentioned before. We may have seen these weapon (or something like them) in "His Last Comand" - the Dev Hetra forces IIRC. Its interesting that the Rapiers here are apparently powerful enough to challenge Titans.

Page 253

Some of the Titans were Carnivore class, armed with multiple rocket launchers and turbo-laser destructors. Some were warhounds with plasma blastguns and mega-bolters.

Carnivore Class titans - something that doesn't immediately ring a bell. A variant perhaps? Warhounds are well known of course.

Page 254

Even so, that Titans of Titans was in trouble. Its spires and one huge foot were ablaze. Its plasma cannon was seemingly disabled. The multi-melta arm still beamed infernal heat, reducing tanks to puddles of glowing slag.

A big ass titan (Emperor-class?) has a multi-metla arm attachment that melts tanks (plural) into slag. double digit gigajoule easily, assuming a Leman Russ sized target and iron composition.

[Connor MacLeod]

Final Chaos Child update! not sure where I'll go next.. maybe the Bill King Space Wolf novels in honor of his return... or maybe some other series. I'll have to think.

Page 258 - Grimm notes that they might be "evaporiated or boiled or weasted or blown to pieces" before finding a titan to commandeer. By what they never say, but it perhaps serves as a testament (if we take him literally) to the level of firepwoer being employed.

Page 263

At one time the Titan's rear void-shields seemed likely to overload and fail. The temperature soared higher as energies radiated.

Titan shields appear to use their surface areas to re-radiate absorbed energies to the enviroment, although in what form isn't immediately clear (although it suggests that the surrounding temperature increases)

Alternately, given that void shields only reradiate absorbed energy once they collapse, this may mean that void shields are designed to spread out and deflect/disperse and radiate away most of the energy of a hit (although again in what form is up for debate - the Titan shields dont seem to be glowing brightly from the hits anyhow)

Page 265

Therefore he had told the princeps that with a finger of the power fist the titan should gouge radiation hexes on the sides of the knoll, amidst the rubble; and never reveal what he had done. Knowledgable people would believe that a burrowing missile or mole torpedo had destroyed the tower, leaving a stew of lethal long-life radioactivity buried in the site.

I'm pretty sure you dont get radioactivity with conventional warheads unless they're purpose built for that, suggesting some sort of nuclear yield (or perhaps a melta munition?)

Page 273

Her [Meh'Lindi/Rakel's] fist smashed into JAq's chest under his heart.

The impact should have killed any unprotected enemy. But the mesh armour under Jaq's greatcoat absorbed the bullet-like force of her blow. Aghast, he staggered back, shock scouring his soul.

Jaq's Eldar mesh provides protection against blunt force impacts from even lethal unarmed attacks. Considering the former Meh'lindi was an ASsassin, this says something (even if the body is/was merely human.)

Pages 274-275

Instinctively Jaq interposed his uninjured arm. Energy exploded upon his hand, which no armour nor even a gauntlet sheathed.

The shockwave stiffened the mesh upon his arm, all the way to his shoulder. Briefly his arm remained raised, like some crooked staff which might display regalia. The regalia consisted of scorched stubs of carpal bone to which blackened ribbons of flesh and gristle clung. The energy packet hadn't amputated his palm and his fingers. It had vaporised his hand."

Jaq's hand is "vaporized" explosively by Meh'Lindi's digital laser - the shockwave suggests explosive vaporizationa nyhow. Some may argue vaporization but I would note that the severely burned flesh and bone and absence of spurting blood (cauterization) suggests significant thermal effects. It's hard to actually estimate the mass of Jaq's hand, but a couple hundred grams seems likely (10cm wide, 10 cm long, and about 4-5 cm "tall" in a rough fist). There's also the fact that it specifically says "the energy packet hadn't amputated his palm and fingers", suggesting it hadn't simply blown the arm apart - nor is there mentio of any bone or flehs shrapnel being sprayed about.

Anyhow, if it were literally vaporized, it could take anywhere from half a megajoule to a megajoule or so to accomplish. If we assume it wasn't total vaporization (possible) we could still go by cauterization/searing, which would be somewhere in the double or triple digit kilojoules (depending on termperature you choose to use anyhow - I'm assuming somewhere around 100-150C) - although in this case it may be indicative of an inefficient damaging effect (mechanical damage, I am coming to believe, is a more efficient mechanism than raw energy. It may not always be desirable in such cases, but I'm still trying to figure ou thow to work explosive damage inw ith the obvious thermal effects we sometimes see.)

That said, don't always assume that just energy matters. Sufficiently efficient and properly designed beam weapons could mimic handgun or rifle bullets or even grenades (or bolters) and this includes lasguns.

A digital laser, as we know from various sources (rogue Trader, Inquisitor, etc.) is equilvaent in power to a las pistol, so the damage done here is analogus to the damage done by a las pistol, and meshes fairly well with the other examples of las pistols in the series.

page 276

Jaq was ruined, in body and in soul. An arm, shattered. A hand, seared away.

the digital laser shattered his arm via shock and "seared" away his hand.

Page 276-277

A violent blow upon the vault of a skull might leave it intact. If the bolt had only struck a glancing blow a compression-wave would have been transmitted around the skull to the rigid base, which might fracture.

An explosion within the skull was another matter. It tore the great jigsaw pieces of the skull apart And even though Jaq's head had not entirely disintegrated, what had been knitted together since childhood was separated now. The frontal plate was divorced from the sundered parietal plates of the cranium, and those in turn from the occipital plate at the rear. Liquified pulp of brain had gushed out of its broken container.

Jaq's head vs Lex's bolt gun.

Page 279-281

- Due to the location Jaq died in (where he treid resurrecting Meh'lindi" he's basically tied to the webway now, rather than having his spirit translated to the Warp. He cannot leave the webway, but his link to it apparently confers some sortt of knowledge/understanding/illumination (He thinks so at least) and he thinks he may be able to converse with the eldar farseers (at least their spirits)