Bringers of Death Short story anthology analysis thread

[Connor MacLeod]

Well, now that I've brought the Inquisition War and Ian Watson novels to a close, I've decided to move onto another group of books that have been sitting on my HD for quite awhile: The anthnologies. THere are quite a few. The biggest and most well known was "Let the Galaxy burn" but there have been many anthologies aside from the more recent ones (like Planetkill, Heroes fo the Space Marines, etc.) - Into the Maelstrom, Deathwing, Bringers of Death, Crucible of War, What Price Victory, Tales from the Dark Millenium, and so on. Most of them have something interesting to tell, although a handful had stories I'd either already read in LtGB, or just weren't very interesting. Nonetheless, I've considered them mostly likable because they tend to explore alot of different angles of the Imperium - many of the stories do not just cover the Guard or Space Marines. You get some Eldar stories. You get stories of normal humans on worlds (gangers, outlaws, etc.)

The first one I plan on covering is "Bringers of Death." I debated between this one and Deathwing, because the latter had two Bill King and two Ian Watson short stories, and I thought I could commorate the return of Bill King to BL and the end of the Ian Watson chapter of things with that. But I'll handle that one next - it needs a bit of renovating first. So Bringers of Death is going to be the first. I am doing this one first to commemorate that at the end of the year, there will be a new Ciaphas Cain novel "The Emperor's Finest", and this anthology has perhaps one of the few Cain Short stories i've read not in the first omnibus. It is a short story with the Valhallan artillery regiment again (with many of the characters from the other short stories appearing), and it features a Genestealer brothel.

Other than that, the novel has a Mike Lee short story featuring the Space Wolves which is okay (and is the first of the group I'll cover) a Mitch Scanlon short story featuring the VArdan rifles from fifteen hours (and is the second short story I know about them, the other showing up in the Guard Omnibus), a short story by Simon Jowett involving the Ork invasion (and saving/conquest by the Imperium) of a feudal world from the feudal's point of view with a suitably grimdark twist ending. And, a CS Goto Eldar short story, which we all know means "The Eldar are fucked".

Anyhow, enjoy.

Page 10

The scouts had slipped close to scores of landing sites and ork firebases, leaving behind remote-activated designator beacons what would allow the fleet to unleash a devatating initial bombardment within moments of arrival.

Space Wolf forces had to leave behind designator beacons to allow for precise and rapid orbital bombardment on arrival. Something similar was done in Storm of Iron by the Iron Warriors.

The interesting part here is that its implied the ships are emerging from the warp fairly close to the target (no more than light seconds from the planet) in order to rapidly produce the bombardment. This is not unheard of, but it can be risky that close in.

Page 10

Skaflock bit back a savage curse and tried his vox-caster again, but every channel was blanketed in a searing screech of manufactured noise. He had little doubt that the fleet couldn't pick up the designator beacons through the intense vox jamming, it was even possible that their surveyors were blind as well.

comms and sensor jamming being used, by Orks no less.

Page 11

Two heavy ork rounds flattened against Skaflock's power armour. As a member of the great company's Wolf Guard he was better protected than the scouts under his command, and the impacts barely fazed him.

Power armour resistant to Ork gunfire. not surprising, as even carapace armour (like Vostryoan stuff from Rebel Winter) has stood up to Ork fire.

Page 12

For a few heartbeats the body remained upright, steam rising from the cauterised stump of its neck, then the axe tumbled from nervless fingers and the corpse pitched over onto the ground.

Power weapons cauterize wounds, indicating that they (or at least certain ones) have significant thermal effects.

Page 12

- nearly two dozen orks were killed by six scouts and Skaflock "within moments", albeit from surprise.

Page 13
Gunnar let out a rumbling growl, spitting a pair of shiny black pits into the crimson-tinged stream. The huge scout had a habit of chewing lich-berries; how he kept himself supplied on the long missions off Fenris was a mystery to everyone in the pack. A single berry was poisonous enough to kill a normal human in ten agony-filled seconds. Gunnar claimed the taste improved his disposition.[/quote]

Space wolf resistance to poison.

Page 13-14

The sounds of battle called to the Space wolves like a siren song, growing in intensity. Every few moments Skaflock closed his eyes and focused all of his concentration on the maelstrom of noise, picking out the distinctive notes of different weapons with a practiced ear: storm bolters, boltguns, plasma weapons and the distinctive hammering of crude ork guns.

After fifteen minutes the osunds of the Imperial weapons began to falter; Skaflock bared his fangs in a soundless snarl and drove himself on. Two minutes later he could no longer hear any plasma weapons being fired. Four minutes after thta all he could hear were bolters pounding in rapid-fire mode. Then slowly, minute by minute, the bolter fire dwindled away to nothing.

It takes some twenty-three minutes (at least) to reach the battle zone from the distance they are. It's also possible for an experienced Space Wolf to tell weaponry apart just by noise.

Page 15

Before he could react the Blood Claw closed the distance between them and smote Skaflock on the breastplate with a sound like a hammer against a bell. The Wofl Scout went sprawling, stunned by the impact. Had the power fist'sfield been active his chest would have been crushed like an egg.

Power fist can even crush a Space Marine's chest, although the punch unpowered is enough to put an armoured Space Wolf (sergeant) on his ass.

Page 17

"Our pod suffered a malfunction on the way down and we landed some ten kilometres north of the drop zone," the red-haired Blood Claw said. "The woods were crawling with ork patrols. We had to fight every step of the way to make it here."

If we infer from above that it took around 23 minutes for the Blood claws to reach the battle site, the average speed of the force (fighting all the way) would be 25 km/hr. This is an upper limit, however, as its entirely possible they could have taken longer.

Page 17

"The orks have cut us off for now, but the fleet isn't going to sit idle. With every pass they make over the planet their surveyors will have a clearer picture of where the ork landing sites are hidden. The orks can't keep this jamming up forever - they need the vox channels to coordinate themselves almost as much as we do.

Hinting that the Space Wolf fleet in orbit can still scan the planet in some manner despite jamming, which may mean it can still bombard the planet.

It's also indicated the Orks are capable of using communication devices for coordination purposes.

Page 21

Half a kilometre from the firebase Skaflock waved the scouts off the trail, follwing a path that led to higher ground nad offered a commanding view of the ork encampment. Hogun and Kjarl lay to either side of Skaflock as he scanned the firebase from a stony ledge using his magnoculars.

Range of a Space Marine using magnoculars looking for precise details.

Page 22-23

The space Wolves reached the dirt road almost a kilometer north of the base, then began working south until they were within less than a hundred metres of the base's crude gate.

..

The firebase itself was simple and ruggeed. An irregular perimeter of packed earthen ramparts five metres high was topped with razor wire and littered with small mines. Rough, uneven watchtowers composed of scrap metal and cannibalized shipping containers rose behind the ramparts, sprouting a lethal assortment of heavy guns and wandering searchlights.

..

Skaflock watched as one of the Wolf Scouts rose to a crouch and drew his bolt pistol in a single, fluid motion. He snapped off two quick shots, destroying two of the searchlights in a shower of sparks, but as he pivoted to fire at the third a brust from an ork gun blew his head apart in a shower of blood and bone.

Several points of note:

1.) a description of the firebase. I dont remember offhand if the Orks had made it or if it was a standard one they had occupied (Imperial stnadard) but it may be useful for details.

2.) Skaflock is using his bolt pistol at a range of ~100 meters or so.

3.) Skaflock's third bolt explodes an Ork's skull (which is going to be fairly massive.. considering Orks weigh hundreds of kilos easily, an Ork head is easily several times more massive than a human's, and equal in terms of mass to blowing out most of the chest of a normal human). The bolt also has to have reached the target in a fraction of a second (the Ork didnt react, and it was the third shot) suggesting it covered the distance in at least 1/3 to 1/4th of a second (or more). Given Astartes reflexes it can quite likely be more. In any case, at least 300-400 m/s implied muzzle velocity, which is pretty reasonable given the implied ranges of the weapon.

Page 25

Mention of "scores" of old mines across the planet the Orks are apparently using as bases in the region. Skaflock mentions the Orks are probably tapping the mine's abandoned reactors to power the jamming system. Its interesting that old mines still have reactors of some kind that can provide power, although we dont know the scale of the jamming systme so the kind of power provided is unknown but presumably not minor.

Page 27

Skaflock leapt forward, swinging the frost axe in a wide arc and carving through the torsos of the three greenskins before him.

Skaflock, wielding the Wolf Lord's frost axe, cuts through three Ork bodies in a single swing. Testament to the power of a frost weapon when wielded by a Space Wolf.

Page 27

Skaflock shot it in the face. The range was so close the mass-reactive shell had no time to arm, blowing the greenskin's head apart and bursting in the chest of the ork behind.

Skaflock's bolt pistol. It can blow apart the head of an Ork and (probably) blow apart the chest of the Ork behind him. This implies significant recoil and momentum behind a bolt pistol round - quite easily AMR grade I'd guess, and this makes them quite deadly even without the explosive component.

Page 27

A heavy bullet smashed into Skaflock's shoulder, carnnoning off his armour and half spinning him around, but the impact barely haalted his headlong charge.

Another Ork bullet doesn't penetrate Skaflock's armour although its a ricochet. The momentum of the round was enough to spin him but not halt his charge or fling him back, which does set limits on it.

Page 28

Two more rounds smashed into Skaflock's chest, flattening against his breastplate...

Yet more Ork rounds fail to penetrate Skaflock's armour, although the flattening bit implies they aren't specifically designed as AP rounds either...

Page 28

The ork bellowed in pain and the Wolf Scout put a bolt pistol shell into the gaping maw, blwoing out the back fo its skull.

Point blank bolt pistol shell fired into the mouth of an ork bodyguard. Unknown whether it was the explosive component or just the impact of the round itself.

Page 28

- the Orks hired a Dark Eldar to assist them in exhcange for plunder (slaveS),a nd this inlcudes technical assistance (in this case, jamming.) Interesting huh?


Page 29

Suddenly the air around the dark eldar shimmerd as a flurry of bolt pistol shells streaked at his head and chest - and vanished as if swallowed by the void.

..

Three blood Claws landed without landing a single blow, the rest hurled themselves at the dark eldar, aiming a flurry of blows at the alien that would have ripped a mere human into tatters. Yet for all their speed and skill, the dark eldar Dodged their blows with ease, or absrobed them with his powerful force field. Hogun emptied his bolt pistol at the alien's head, each shell swallowed up by the warrior's eldritch defences.

..

With an effort of will, Skaflock forced his traumautized muscles to work,raising his own pistol and squeezing off hsot after shot as the dark eldar's whip took another Blood Claw in the throat. Each round disappeared like all the rest - until suddenly an actinic flash obscured the alien and a sound like a thudnerclap rang out as his force field finally overloaded. The dark eldar staggered and the Wolf Scout saw a ragged hole in the breastplate of his armor

Indication of the durability of Dark Eldar personal shielding. Apparently it provides some sort of counter-force mechanism for the momentum of the shots as well, or it got rid of them in such a way that the bolts didn't hit any sort of barrier connected ot the Eldar (although such a defense seems selective since it doesnt blind him or make him un-viewable.)

[Lost Soal]

Page 22-23

Skaflock watched as one of the Wolf Scouts rose to a crouch and drew his bolt pistol in a single, fluid motion. He snapped off two quick shots, destroying two of the searchlights in a shower of sparks, but as he pivoted to fire at the third a brust from an ork gun blew his head apart in a shower of blood and bone.

Several points of note:

1.) a description of the firebase. I dont remember offhand if the Orks had made it or if it was a standard one they had occupied (Imperial stnadard) but it may be useful for details.

2.) Skaflock is using his bolt pistol at a range of ~100 meters or so.

3.) Skaflock's third bolt explodes an Ork's skull (which is going to be fairly massive.. considering Orks weigh hundreds of kilos easily, an Ork head is easily several times more massive than a human's, and equal in terms of mass to blowing out most of the chest of a normal human). The bolt also has to have reached the target in a fraction of a second (the Ork didnt react, and it was the third shot) suggesting it covered the distance in at least 1/3 to 1/4th of a second (or more). Given Astartes reflexes it can quite likely be more. In any case, at least 300-400 m/s implied muzzle velocity, which is pretty reasonable given the implied ranges of the weapon.

Unless your referencing something you haven't quoted, you've got this backwards. It was a burst of Ork fire which exploded the head of one of the Wolf scouts.
Doesn't say how many hit, but it does show some orks can actually shoot

[Connor MacLeod]

Nope, you're right. I misread that.

[Vendetta]

Page 15

Before he could react the Blood Claw closed the distance between them and smote Skaflock on the breastplate with a sound like a hammer against a bell. The Wofl Scout went sprawling, stunned by the impact. Had the power fist'sfield been active his chest would have been crushed like an egg.

Power fist can even crush a Space Marine's chest, although the punch unpowered is enough to put an armoured Space Wolf (sergeant) on his ass.

Unsurprising, given that power fists are a credible threat to vehicles.

[Connor MacLeod]

Next BoD update... Basically the next story centers around the sergeant and other characters of the Vardan Rifles from the novel fifteen hours, so you know its going to be lots of IG stuff but also alot of Grimdark.

Page 37-38

Turning Chelkar saw Coproral Grishen hurrying towards him from the comms-dugout, four unfamiliar Guardsmen trailing in his wake like black-coated vultures. He did not need to see the crossed-swords-and prayer-beads insignia on their collars to know who they were. Kessrian Guard.
..

Behind them, the Kessrians stood in a rigid line with hellguns held at wasit level, safeties off.

Guardsmen using hellguns. Its possible they were storm troopers, but they don't seem to be wearing carapace of any kind (storm coats though) and I'd expect Chelkar (a veteran Guardsman himself) to know storm troopers from regular guardsmen (The two are usually treated as distinctive.) Might be Grenadiers of a sort though, or a specialized regiment who has access to hellguns (its not unheard of - the Elysians have special weapons troopers who use hellguns.) Maybe these are a "low grade" sort of hellgun?

Page 40

In the last seventeen years, whether he ate, slept, washed- even in the latrines - his shotgun, hellpistol, and knife had been his constant companions.

Sergeant Chelkar has a hellpistol as well as a shotgun.


Page 40

What contact Chelkar had had with Kessrians in the past convinced him this was more blessing than curse. They were humourless fanatics, dour even by the standards of Broucherac- where to live at all was to live with the threatening weight of despair constantly at your shoulder.

..

But not the Kessrians. THey were devoted ot the Imperial Creed, and lived with all the mean smugness of men who believed they need only follow orders and, come death, they would sit with their Emperor in paradise.

Though perhaps there was a subtle wisdom in their piety. Counted the most loyal troops in all Broucherac, they had been detached to the permanant service of the city's commissars, while more "suspect" troops, like Chelkar and his men, suffered the brunt of the fighting.

First off... yes this is set on the same world that the novel "fifteen hours" takes place on, so there's more than a bit of grimdark there. The regiment here is the Vardian rifles (IIRC that was the group the newbie Guardsmen had been accidentally folded into), and Chelkar is the sergeant.

The Kessrians sound rather quite a bit like the Kriegers or Mordians , although its quite possible this is just a show to get them off frontline duty.

Page 41

- Chelkar muses on Ork pyres burning the bodies. He figures maybe 10,000 orks are being burned, and this being a "drop in the ocean" - for every one burned there there were (according to him) another thousand weighting. Suggesting many millions of Orks on that planet.

Page 42

Broucherac had once been one huge refinery, where crude from the oilfields further south was brought to be refined into fuel. Even now, the city sat on billions of barrels' worth of promethium in massive underground stroage tanks. That was why the orks were here; without fuel to feed their armour, their assault elsewhere on the planet had been brought grinding to a halt/.

Scope of the oil facitlies under the planet. Its worth noting that this planet is, by all depictions a virtual backwater forgotten by the bulk of the Imperium, so we might argue this is the oil capacity of the single city on a minor planet (although 40K cities have been shown to be quite large as it is - tens of km in diameter, so "small" is a relative term.)

Page 44

"Sergeant! A message form Sector Command! Auspex has picked up an object falling to earth in the northwest quadrant of the sky. A drop-pod, sir!"

Sector command on Broucherac has its own auspex systems, and they can pick up drop pods. it is interesting to note here that noone automatically leaps to the conclusion that a drop pod means Space Marines, although typically this is what a drop pod deploys in most stories and in the fluff.

Page 45

A drop-pod, all right, and it was headed their way.

"Perhaps it is a relief force," Bulaven said, his usually boomign voice now an awed whisper. "A space-borne assault, to destrroy the orks and break the siege."

"With a single drop pod?" Davir sneered.

...

"Most likely some distant bureaucrat has decided to send us a supply pod to reassure us we have not been forgotten. Something uesless no doubt; insect repellent or paperclips.

Davir also comments they received a shipload of condoms once via drop pod. Apparently, at least where Broucherouc is concerned, drop pod usage is not all that unusual. It does show a rather different approach that the Guard can utilize besides drop ships, although the only other case of this being brought up that comes to mind immediately is in the Ghosts novels and the Sabbat Worlds Crusade book (Slaydo used it for his forces on Balhaut).

Also is anyone happy to see our friemds from Fifteen Hours appear? They're so cheery and upbeat. Especially Davir.

Page 46

"They're reinforcements! Command says the drop pod is full of troops!"

We learn there are "hundreds" of troops in the pod, so probably a company sized formation or so. This also means its quite a damn big drop pod apparently if it carries that many troops, givne most of the drop pods we've seen carry only a squad or so of space Marines.

Page 46

"The pod looks set to landsmack in the middle of no-man's-land."
..

An eagle wreathed in flames, and about to land right under the ork guns.

Yes, yet again as in fifteen hours, reinforcements land in the middle of No-Man's land (which IIRC was about a kilometre wide in Fifteen hours, so this suggests around 500 meters away.) Being "right under" the Ork guns means the Ork guns can reach out to that distance, apparently. Whether this is point or area target fire (or even accurate fire) is debatable.

Page 47

The pod had landed so far away the tidal wave of uprooted eath and stone had fallen short of their lines.

..

bullets, rockets shells - even the occasional energy beam - fell roaring all about the pod, turning the grround around it into a churning sea of leaping soil. As ever, ork marksmanship was appalling, so far they had not even come close to hitting their target. But given the sheer volume of fire, it was only a matter of time.

..

"I want you to take a range estimateion on the centre of no-man's-land and await my instructions."

I guess the answer to my previous question is "not accurate" fire.

Also they have equipment somehow to take a range esitmation. Possibly just the targeters we remember mentioned in Fifteen hours could do it.

Pag 48

They looked liek Toy soldiers. Severla hundred Guardsmen standing all but doomed in the middle of no-man's-land...
..

Toy soldiers delivered into the most coverless section of no-man's-land: an empty wasteland that, for them, might as well have been in hell. Still, toy soldiers or not, Chelkar could only hope they knew how to run.

Again, sound familiar? And again, the troops landed in the exact middle.

Page 48-49

Targeteer makes the range six hundred metres, sergeant.

...

"Six hundred metres, sergeant. With everything they've got. At the command mark.

"All other troops: at the command "fire" I want suppression fire aimed at the ork lines. You have my command. Fire!"

From every foxhole and trench, the company opened up with lasgun, missile, and mortar. At this range the chances of hitting anything were slim, but all Chelkar wanted was to encourage the orks to keep their heads down long enough for the new arrivals to escape.

..

A shell rebounded off the hull of the pod as the ork gunners finally found their range.

...

Six hundred metres to go, and men fell and died in great waves, bodies pierced by shrapnel and bullets, or else just ripped to bloody pieces by blasts. Four hundred metres, and already more than half were dead.

..

Perhaps mo more than two dozen men left from hundreds, stumbling

A rather lengthy quote, with a number of interesting details:

1.) range estimation is achieved via targeter (seeing yet again the Varidan rifles have some access to some high end toys even if they're on a unimportant backwater.) given its mentioned they are (roughly) smack dab in the middle of things the range has to be around 1.2 km or so (give or take a few hundred meters mebbe).

2.) Lasguns, missiles and mortars evidently have a "low probability" of hitting anything at the side of the Ork lines - at least against orks. This might be target sensitive, since at that range evne if they hit an Ork it wouldn't neccesarily guarntee injury, and we have seen lasguns fire out to longer ranges.

It might also simply mean "point target" accucy and that it could hit an "area target" at over a kilometer, since the Orks are clearly gaining SOME hits and that's with the humans providing suppressive fire (taking down hundreds of troops. hell half the troops were gunned down befor they made 200 meters)

3.) lasguns and other weapons are utilized for suppressive fire against the Orks at the aforementioned 1.2 km range. Lasguns, with thier large ammo supplies, ought to be quite good for usppressive fire.

4.) those gotta be some crappy mortars if they can't even hit something indirectly with area munitions from a kilometer away.

5.) The targeteer (or targeter)'s range estimate is given over vox to the artillery forces supporting the Vardans.

PAge 49

"Auspex reads a large ork force moving towards us on foot!

..

A last straggler who, spurning the chance to run for cover, turned instead to fire his laspistol towards the unseen horde of approaching orks hidden somewhere in the smoke cloud behind him.

Ork forces detected on Auspex at unknown distance, and some fool thinking he can fire on the Orks with a laspistol from half a kilometer to a kilometer away. Possible to injure something perhaps at that range, but almost certainly not accruate fire. Though it has been known for some exceptional sorts to fire even laspistols from a fair distance away (hundreds of meters) so who knows.


Page 53

As for a "show of strength", take it from me: They're stronger than we are. The only thing you don't want is to end up going hand-to-hand with an ork. Let them shoot at you all day - cahnces are they'll miss. But go hand-to-hand and you'll end up being fed your own liver.

As we know, CQB with an Ork is a recipe for disaster.

Page 55

Incredibly, instead of running or crocuhing, Lorannus went marching across the open ground towards the trenches as though it were a parade ground. Bad enough tob e wearing that sniper-bait uniform, thought Chelkar, but the fool doesn't even have the sense to run or keep his head down.

Not that the thought of some gretchin sniper blowing the lieutenant's fool head off caused him any great concern. But there was always the danger the damned gretch would miss and hit someone else.

Implied that a Orkish sniper could have hit the man. Possibly from the other side of no man's land, but probably not. They probably get closer like we saw in fifteen hours (but no more than halfway, IIRC)

Page 56
- Bulaven, the big man, wields a heavy flamer. HE must be another Bragg to be able to do that.

Page 57

..shrapnel and explosives were turning the area in front of hte ork lines into a quagmire...

..

"confirmation from all lookouts," Grishen said. "The orks are coming!"

.
..

From the ork lines the engine noises reached a crescendo, momentarily drowning out even the artillery barrage as dozens of ork vehicles smashed through their own barricades and sped into no-man's land. A motley, mechanised army of scratch-built vehicles and buggies gunned their engines forward to come roaring across the frozne mud. In seconds they were past the limits of the bombardment, leaving a third of their number burning behind them. A third already gone, but it mattered not at all. The other two-thirds just kept coming.

"All troops, upon my command," Lorannus said, calm and even over the comm-link. "Fire!"

A fusillade of msisiles, lasbeams and mortar rounds hurtled into no-man's-land. Some found their marks, and more vehicles exploded. But many beams glanced off armour, missiles failed, mortar rounds fell short. The motorised horde kept coming.[

Lasbeams may refer to lascannon or lasguns, but missiles and mortars are engaging the Ork vehicles about a kilometer or so away (close to the other side of the lines, since they fire mere "seconds" after breaking past their own barricades.) Given that it says "all tropos" and that the beams were deflected by armor, its probably lasgun fire.

This in turn means the range limitation from before was target-dependent and probably was meant to be an upper limit for the point target.


Page 59

- Lorannus orders the troops to fix bayonets and charrge the orks. Everyone else doesn't, considering it madness. So much for "The guard always use bayont charges as a standard tactic".

Page 60

Then the bullet struck.

somewhere out in no-man's land, a grentchin sniper found his spiteful mark, the impact pitching Lorannus forward off the vehicle as a fist-sized spray of red gore erupted from the right side ofhis chest.

Gretchin sniper at some unspecified range puts a fist-sized hole through Loranus

[Connor MacLeod]

Next Bringers of death update. We get a grimdark Eldar-oriented story from CS Goto. I never erally understood why they let this guy write about Eldar.. its like letting Ben Counter write about Space Marines. Most of the time it just doesn't work out.

Page 68

- Eldar shuriken weapons can manufacture their shuriken in such a w ay to produce a distinguishable microscopic image (such as a shruiken shot that looks like a scorpion.) They're also poisoned. Neat tech trick if I do say so, though as I recall only harlequins used poisoned shuriken rounds (although I see no reason why others couldn't.)

Page 68

"Only the Striking Scorpions Aspect Warriors. were adept enough at close quarters combat to bounce a shuriken off a pillar into the back of their adversary's head.

Shuriken rounds can ricochet if you're skilled enough. Neat trick.

Page 78

The war cries of an exarch, any exarch, fixated on death, amplified by the teeming millions of souls in the ancient circuit, risked flaring a beacon for the minions of the Satin Throne. The hint of such an awesome prize might even lure Slaanesh himself.

It was not for nothing that the Council of Seers had prevented the assimilation of the exarchs for millenia. The infinity circuit must be kept pure, for it was the last haven of a dying race, the only hope for the eldar's future. As each of the craftworlds navigated the distant stretches of the galaxy, they collected the souls of their dead into their hearts, keeping them from the clutches of the unspeakable dameons at their heels. Stealth and movement were vital to survival. The peripatetic craftworlds never came together for very long, fearing that the immense concentrations of eldar souls would lure Slaanesh out of the sha'iel to consume them. The craftworlds could not risk anything that might endanger their spirit pools.

1.) Inifnity circuit housing "millions" of eldar souls. Over a 10K year period that works out to hundreds annually. This could imply a craftworld population in the tens of thousands possibly, assuming an eldar lifespan of centuries to maybe a 1000 years or so as average and working from the deaths. Not exactly an accurate estimate, but we never really have accurate figures for the Eldar anyhow.

2.) Putting an Exarch soul into the Infinity Circuit is a Bad Thing.

3.) Large concentrations of Eldar souls would serve to attract the attnetion of slaanesh.

Page 83

- here its mentioned that a war inside a craftworld would reap the deaths of thousands of eldar souls, giving us a (rough) benchmark of what Craftworld populations probably are. A lower limit to complement the above.

Page 85

They were motionless against the deepening greens of the house walls, the dirty reds of their armour hazing increidbly into camouflage.

Aspect armour has camo properties, it seems.

Page 86

The seer-wave at the end of the corridor visibly spun on its axis and came storming back towards the gates, seekign the voice.

..

The cloud started to darken as it drew closer, charging itself with venom, sprinkling tiny shards of psychoconductive crystal as it flew.

..

Outside, the venom of the seer-wave was beginning to bite, its crystals wedging themselves into the armour of Saeemrar warrios before being triggered by a tremendous psychic blast from somewhere in the inner sanctum of the temple. Tiny strafes of pain erupted in their flesh as a dozen clansmen dropped to the ground, their limbs spontaneously ripped form their bodies as they struggled to rid their minds of the invading toxins.

The seer wave appears to be some sort of psychic sentry or guard device created by and triggered by an Eldar seer. It is not just detecting things, it can also attack via that crystal shit it materializes (and interesting it can spontaneously materialize physical matter out of the warp.) A possible indicator of Eldar detection systems. Also, it uses what appears to be a nasty poison (then what doesnt in this story?)

Page 86

The melta charges exploded, sending a superheated backblast of fire jetting along the corridor away from the gates. The mighty gates buckled under the prodigious blas, arching back into the temple before being ripped apart. Molten emerald sprayed out into the interior, sending the defenders diving for cover beyind their hastily erected barricades.

Melta charges on Eldar door.



Page 87

Quereshir released three fusion bolts from his gun, and the sniper behind the entrance was lifted off his feet in a staccato flight before crumplign to the ground in ashes.

Eldar fusion pistol. Three bolts cremate an Eldar warrior. Suggests high MJ to low GJ range if total cremation occurs, although he might not have totally been cremated (that is implied).

Page 87

Those shuriken that missed their mark ricocheted back from the pillars that puncutated the hall or from the giant curving walls, focussing the venemous projectiles back into the killing zone in the center. The Scorpionidas themselves were tucked in behind their barricades, impervious to all but the most direct strike from a fusion gun.

Striking Scorpions in cover only vunlerable to fusion gun. Also more ricocheting shuriken weapons. And the name "Scorpionidas" is retarded - makes me think of 300.


Page 88

In an instant, the hall was a dizzying mist of shuriken, as the Scorpionidas released thousands of the monomoecular projectiles each second.

"thousands" of Shuriken pistols each second. If we knew how many Scorpions there were this might be useful. I'd guess fewer than a hundred, suggesting a rate of fire in the dozens or maybe few hundred rounds per second.

PAge 92

Six riders broke away from the pack, peeling off to the right in a delciate chain formation, curving back to retrace the vaprour trails of the leading riders. They slowed to subsonic speeds as their seer-screens flicekred into light, indicating twelve hostiles approaching hypersonically.

..


"There, on the horizon."

"Affirmative. Targets acquired.

Note that "seer-screens" seem to refer to some sort of automatic or computer-control system. Both teh bikes themselves and the weapons are mentioned to be automatically controlled (and can be selectable for manual or automatic.)

Also not ethe hypersonic jetbike references, and acquiring targets "on the horizon" suggesting multi km ranges.

Page 93

Lureeal released a blinding flash of fire from his lance, incinerating the eldar slumped over the nose of his machine..

If it meant cremation, triple digit MJ/low GJ. Otherwise it could arguably be less (Charring perhaps.. double digit MJ or maybe single digit MJ if it was just third degree burns.) Take your pick. My bet is on charring with some cremation perhaps.

Page 96

..he wove through the narrow infrastructural corridors of Saim Hann with consummate skil, anticipating the ventilation tubes or sudden corners before they appeared - as though guided by some external force.

Exarch precog at work/

Page 97

Clicking the mechanism to automatic, she could hear the plasti-crystal generator whine into life, and the magnetic repulsor began to rattle off thousands of arbitrary shards into her wake.

High rate of fire on yet another Eldar projectile weapon, although "shard" makes it sound more like a Dark Eldar weapon (as does the use of poisons.) It seems odd to be magnetic rather than gravitic here, although there's nothing wrong with a magnetic propulsion method.

[Lost Soal]

1.) Inifnity circuit housing "millions" of eldar souls. Over a 10K year period that works out to hundreds annually. This could imply a craftworld population in the tens of thousands possibly, assuming an eldar lifespan of centuries to maybe a 1000 years or so as average and working from the deaths. Not exactly an accurate estimate, but we never really have accurate figures for the Eldar anyhow.

For what it's worth we know Eldrad was over 10,000 years old

[Serafina]

1.) Inifnity circuit housing "millions" of eldar souls. Over a 10K year period that works out to hundreds annually. This could imply a craftworld population in the tens of thousands possibly, assuming an eldar lifespan of centuries to maybe a 1000 years or so as average and working from the deaths. Not exactly an accurate estimate, but we never really have accurate figures for the Eldar anyhow.

For what it's worth we know Eldrad was over 10,000 years old

While it is heavily implied that Eldar lifespan is not infinite (we see a Farseer getting weak due to old age in one of the Gaunt's Ghosts novels) Eldrad was around for the Horus Heresy and did not show any signs of weakness due to old age.
However, he was repedeately refered to as "old" or similar things by Eldar.
Of course it's entirely possible that Farseers just live longer the better they get - we have notions that their bodies slowly crystallize without harming them, which is linked to their abilities.

Either way, Eldar was at least 10.000 years old when he was killed, wether that's average or extraordinary.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

He was probably much older than that, considering he was already a respected Farseer by the time of the Heresy.

[Connor MacLeod]

Next to last updates.. Orks invade a primitive human world. Conflict follows. Stay tuned next week, we get a Cain short story.

Page 116

Another burst from the engine-driven rifles they carried so casually, when it would take a strong man most of his strength ot even lift one..

A normal human would have trouble lifting these Ork weapons, suggetsing they are on the size and power of Astartes bolters (unlike tohers say, used by Ciaphas Cain in Death and Glory) and also suggesting these Orks are many times stronger than a normal human.

Page 119

The smaller war engines attacked Grellax first, racing in on two ro three fat wheels...

...

The shells from the invaders weapons did enough damage, punching through ancient stonework and shredding the bodies sheltering benhind it; the explosives tore holes in the forttifications large enough to drive bull-carts through, two abreast.

..

The foot soldiers ran forward as the war engiens retreated, some of them spraying the walls with gunfire form the machien rifles they carried, which were not very much smaller or lighter than those that were mounted on the two and three-wheelers.

Effects of Ork bikes and weapons - capable of penetrating stone walls and "shredding" humans behind it, and explosive blowing multi-meter holes in the walls (equal to multiple kg of TNT, but without knowing how big the explosives are the effectiveness cannot be gauged.)

Bike mounted weapons are also roughly of the same size and probably calibre as the ones the troops carry.

Page 124

Jarran flew backwards, her body virtually bisected by the burst of gunfire. Those nearest toher hit the dirt. One of them at least still held a rifle. Its ball pinged uselessly off the beast's breastplate, but it held its attehntion long enough for the others to close in.

Musket-grade weapon really, but insufficient to hurt an Ork in armour. The Ork's weapon has enough momentum to send a body flying even when it cuts a person in half (the long way, no less - which suggests a fairly large burst of fire)

Page 124

The pike-head strtuck sparks from the rim of the beast's breastplate before slamming into its throat. Bitter experience had taught the Agrans that the invaders' skin was as thick and tough as well tanned-leather. To get through it, you needed to stirke with the kind of commitment that did not allow for a second chance.

It takes alot of strength to punch through Ork hide. Even with a heavy weapon.

Page 125 - the Ork takes a pike wound to neck and a cleaver blow (from an Ork cleaver swung by a man) to the neck/shoulder area before dying, another takes two pike strikes to shoulder and lower ribcage aera, and still is alive and kicking.

page 144 - Ork takes a "largge" impact wound to its chest but can still fight. The impact wound is from an Ork weapon.

Page 144

A third burst of gunfire from the top of the slope hit the beast, throwing it backwards off its feet, this time rendering its misshappen skull into raw meat and bone.

Effect of Ork gunfire on another Ork.

Page 152

A shot from the heavy pistol Brael had taken from the dead greenskin in Grellax blew out the back of another's head. The recoil kicked up Brael's arm to his shoulder and the report in the confined space set his ears ringing.

Hard to manage, but not impossible for a human to fire the pistol./ This suggests the other weapons that were hard for humans to lift were perhaps heavy stubbors or large rifles. Effect of the pistol and implied recoil suggest equivalency to a large magnum round or perhpas a full power rifle round.

Page 153

To his right, a body hit the floor. By the light from the torch fixed to its breastplate, Brael was shocked to see that it was one of the invaders, half its face a smoke-edged crater.

Another example of Ork weaponry in action. They seme quite capable of blowing apart heads, ork or human.

Page 174

The web of wires and metal supports almost iflled the otherwise bare space, reaching from wall to wall and from floor to the ceiling, which was barely visible in the weak yellow light given out by the three or four oil lamps that sat in niches in the walls. A low hum and a vibration that Brael felt in his breast gave him the sense that something living might be sitting within the web, drawing life along the cables and wires, which seemed to pulse with an almost imperceptible beat.

The delicate sound of well-oiled wheels turning int he darkness above drew Brael's attention upwards. Weak yellow lamplight caught the moving edges of a complex arrangement of cogs and gears. Thick, brass rods, their lengths turning and shining a dull, golden colour in the lamplight, reached down from the shadows to complex, geared connections with thinner rods of the same substance. These thinner rods then reached out to linkages with the web of hair-thin wires amongst which the VArks seemed to crouch, like a peitent, hungry spider. Somhow, Brael was sure, the rotating rods fed power oto the humming wires, which in turn fed the pulsing, throbbing machine that beat in the room like an ancient mechanical heart.

The "Varks" - a beacon of some kind, used to communicate. Likely to be psychic in nature (since psychic signals are the only "accepted" FTL for the Imperium), but definitely FTL. (discussed later)

Page 175

"it is a beacon," the priest replied. "can't you feel it?" he placed a hand against his chest. "It's not a beacon as you might imagine - a fire atop a hill or the sound of a horn. Its signal passes invisibly through flesh and stone. It reaches up past the sky and out towards the stars. The web that fills this room provides it sustenance and serves to augment the signal, send it further into the void.

Again its suggested its a living thing, although this might be superstition. But given that we know the only means of reliably communicating across interstellar distances is via some form of astrotelepathy or something similar, its likely accurate. Other details that become apparent later can reinforce this, although it is not certain.

Funny enough a similar sort of beacon/distress call was seen in Brothers of the Snake.

Page 176

Through the web of intersecting wires he saw it: a metal box, no lager than the baskets that fruit-pickers would wear on their backs at harvest-time. Its surface glowed dully in the light, showing ierregular patches of what might have been its original colour or the discoloration of the ages. Above the plinth on which it sat, the wires came together, twisting around each other as they swooped down towards it, becoming a single, tightly-wound calbe before plunging into a socket set into its top. A single red light pulsed beside the machined collar that reinforced the connection.

Okay, this implies its maybe a bit too small to be a whole human psyker. Maybe a sustained brain perhaps. Some sort of Astorpathic/psychic servitor perhaps. a few sources have made mention of them.

Again, simlarities between this and the beacon from Brothers of the Snake are too strong to ignore.

Page 177

The mere presence of so many people in the room at one time had already begun to affect the network of wires that supported the Varks. The pulsation had become more noticable, wires began to give off notes of differing pitches as they rubbed against each other or against the thicker metal frame from which they hung. The vibration in Brael's chest had changed, too. It had become irregular, like the broken rhythm he had felt in the chests of farm animals before the moment of their death.

Again, possibly superstition, but a sort of "awareness" implied in the Varks. It also seems to fall apart in response to the presence/emotional state of the people inside witnessing it. It also sends off an automatic signal. It seems to react to the presence of living beings near it.

Page 178

When he looked up, Brael saw that the sky was on fire. Lights fell through the inky blackness, drawing short, burning trails behind them.

More Orks. Shortly after the Varks goes off.

PAge 179

Mallax was able to organise its defences in the year it took for the invaders to reach it.

The length of time the Orks had between the landing and the assault on the last city. This means that if the "Vox" was speed of light it would only go out to about a light year. Given the usual stated distances between planets and how isolated this human one is supposed to be, its unlikely that any Imperial ships just happened to be in realspace within one light year of it when the singal goes out, although that cannot be wholly ruled out.

Alternately, its either some sort of psychic servitor-communications device (astropathic or otherwise), or it's some sort of mechanical analogue that also relies on psychic abilities. In theory since we know AIs can have a presence in the warp (and be corrupted by it) like Titan, Starship and Land Raider machine spirits - those entities could probably "duplicate" psychic signals given the right gear. Maybe its related to the Noospheric stuff from Mechancium and Titanicus.

Page 181

BRael shouted over the sound of the explosions, more for the benefit of the new arrivals than the men who had fought and survived with him, some for the better part of a year.

Again indication that roughly a year has passed from the VArks activating and the Orks reaching Mallax.

Page 183

The second artillery shell sailed over the heads of the men atop the western battlements and landed in the streets behind them, cuasing more damage than all of the bombs dropped from the flying machines. A chapel that had been converted into a physic station was vaporised, a long with its immediate neighbours. Those buildings that escaped utter destruction were left shattered and teering on the edge of a broad, deep crater.

Ork artillery shell "vaporizses" a chapel of unspeicfied size as well as its buildings, and apparently makes a large, multi meter crater (several buildings in diameter - suggesting maybe something many meters or tens of meters in diameter.) Even if we dont take vaporize literally, this is bound to be at least equal to a modern howitzer shell, if not better. A 5-10 meter crater would be easily equal to tens or hundreds of kilos of TNT arguably)

Page 184

The invaders could destroy Mallax from the horizon, but they would not.

Ork bombardment range. Assuming man or Ork height this could be around 5-8 km, at least.

Page 184

Motorised units - objects of terror and awe even among those that had fought against them in the past - led the assaults at the North Gate and the other breaches. Bomber-variant gliders (cross ref. 775/xeno-tech - engine driven catapult with launching mechanism.) re-joined the attack; one might assume they did so in order to sow confusion within the city ahead of the ground troops...

Ork tactics.. at least a basic understanding of motorised units (even if not very well protected or practical ons) and use of air support (in this case gliders)

Page 185

Despite the city's preparations, its destruction could now be measured in hours.

This is simply to note that the preceding pages described the start of the battle, and that not much more time passed than the year.

Page 188

The shell that vaporised the section of wall Brael's company had been assigned to defend was as large as a small house. It had been fired from beyond the horizon by a cannon as large as the engines that pulled the iron caravans, before the city leaders had blocked up the termini gates and ordered the rails to be uprooted, in order to prevent their use by the invaders.

Large shell from what is probably a fuckoff huge artillery platform (depends on how you define "small house" - that would suggest something like Orkish Ordinatus or more insane) "vaproized" an unspecified part of wall (but big enough that it could hold a "company" of troops) Powerful, but of course with a shell as large as that you can pack it with alot of explosive.

Page 193

He didn't hear the familiar ratcheting cough becvause the first burst of gunfire at such close range reduced his entire upper body to little more than a red mist. The hand holding the unprimed bomb, severed at the elbow, hit the ground heavily..

Ork gunfire at close range. Blowing apart most of a body is roughly grenade level damage, although a barrage of gunfire does this (I expect a burst of heavy MG fire could do similar arguably) so it could be less since you have multiple smaller effects than one single blast.

Page 193

Costes fell awkwardly, his left knee shot from under him.

More effects of Ork gunfire.

Page 198

It was built like a man -two arms, two legs, a barrel-shaped body it would take two men to reach around, standing half as tall again as Tombek, the tallest man in Brael's company.

...

Two more of the roaring metal creatures flanked the first. In place of one arm, one of the flanking creatures had what appeared to be a double-barreled cannon, while the other's left arm ended at the wrist, w here a circular blade had been attached.

Ork Dreadnought or maybe a Killer Kan.


Page 199

Tracing a zigzag path she found cover behind one of the piles of slag that dotted the area around the mine.

...

Seeing the cannon swing towards the pile of ancient, solidified muck behind which Freytha had dived, Brael jumped to his feet, priming his charge as he did so.

..

The juggernaut's cannon fired again, reducing the slagheap to a crater.

Double barrel cannon blows a slagheap to a crater, implying it blew a 1+ meter diametr hole in the ground - equal to at least a kilo to half a kilo of TNT I'd ugess, but we dont konw if the round was a solid slug or explosive shell.

Page 199

The cannon fired again - claiming the lives of two recruits from the mine - and again, this time vaporising a militiaman Fellick had rescued during the retreat from Grellax. After each shot, it needed only a heartbeat's pause bedfore it could fire again.

Ork cannon "vaporises" a person - which could be literal (triple digit MJ at least) or just mean blown apart very effectively (which might be aorund grenade level damage). Also with a very fast refire rate.

Page 202

Like the invader's creation, it stood half as tall again as any man, its smooth hard skin decorated with symbols

Space Marine in power armor.

Page 203

the shells ploughed up the ground around the monstrosity, whose own cannon had been cranked as high as possible and was returning fire. One of the invader's shots struck one of the gods high on the chest, causing his falling trajectory to spin out of union with his fellows. STruggling to regain control of his flight, the figure crashed through the roof of one of hte surrounding warhehouses and disappeared in a shower of timbers and rubble.

..

When the god who had been hit by a cannon round emerged...

Ork dreadnought/Killer kan hits a Power armoured Assault Marine in midair. Marine appears mostly unharmed, despite the level of devastation that weapon has inflicted in the past. Tells us how tough power armour is.

Page 208

"In the Name of the Emperor... in the name of the Emperor.. in the name of the Emperor..."

- Signal detected by Imperial Long-range Cartographic Survery Ship Beacon of Hope, M41.791

The signal sent out by the Varks. Nothing obviously indicates the means it was picked up. Note the .791 on the year. The Inquisitorial report periodically through the story gives a year of .793, meaning that it occured two years after the signal was detected.

Page 210

Navigational beacons were placed at the most suitable loations and further units of Space Marines were despatched form their battle barge, The Carmine Talon. My party had docked with the Talon while en-route to Samax IV and I was able ot observe the operation form the barge's bridge chapel.

Astartes used planted landing beacons to facilitate rapid aerial deployment landing, similar to the use of beacons for precision bombardment of planets.

Page 210

The Imperial Hawks specialise in fast attakcs from the air, utilising high altitude jump pack-assisted assaults, followed by reinforcement soties from squadron-strength units of land-speeders, often dropped at altitude and at high-speed from Thunderhawk drop ships.

Paratrooper type Space Marines.

Page 210

After a year of virtually unobstructed movement south along the length of Samax IV's single main landmass, the invaders had grown complacent, their discipline (always a weak point) lax.

Again, a year passed betwene the Varks signal, the Orks landing, and ther attack on the city.

Page 211

At this juncture, it seems germane to acknowledge that a dispassionate observer might have expected the invaders to make far shorter work of the conquest of Samax IV, given the lack of technological resources and the low level of cultural sophistication on the part of the natives. This may serve to support Harkness' Theroy of Orkoid Relativism (cross ref. 999/xeno-anthropology/heretical writings/Harkness, V. [excom. M41.665], which states that the motivation and tactical sophistication exhibited by this xeno-type may be influenced by the level of resistance offered by their target species.

An interesting note, since the codexes for the Orks have noted that Orks basically do thrive on war - bigger challenges push Ork development to be bigger, stronger, tougher, etc. in response to conflict. Logically this would also apply to other aspects like tactics (eg Kommandos and Stormboyz), although this would only manifest on a larger, long term scale. (EG reinforcements and such.) Another good example of this was the "War of Dakka" of the Orks vs the Tau, and the response to tau firepower by employing Flash Gitz (among other things).

Page 211

It is also probable that they had expected resistance on a similar level to that found on reconquered Imperial worlds, given that, in all probability, they had picked up the same Gothic-encoded transmission (albeit using a long-obsolete cipher) as did the survery ship, Beacon of Hope. Whether the aliens detected the signal later than the survey ship, from closer proximity to the planet, will probably remain an unanswered question.

This is referencing an earlier part I did not quote - basically a further wave of Ork forces assaulted the planet and landed shortly after the signal was sent - FAR less than a day going by, as they witness the drop assault on page 178, shortly after the Varks is activated.

This would suggest the signal is FTL, although whether Orks can pick up astropathic signals is debatable (its happend in other short story anthologies, and ORks were also used as psychic communicators.), its quite likely that the WAAAGH effect lured Orks close enough to pick up the signal -WAAAGH's can operate over quite significant distances after all.

As far as the survey ship goes.. it's possible that this ship just happened to be near by for some reason, and just luckily picked up the signal (at or near the system, out of the warp), but it seems reaching to consider a reason why (it would be monstrously good luck for anyone to pick it up in any reasonably short timeframe by Imperial standards, kind of defeating the point of a beacon.)

Page 213

There the Hawks had discovered the remains of a pre-Heresy pattern vox unit, which we bleieved was the source of the singla detected by the Beacon of Hope. The ancient device had evidently become an object of veneration and had been maintained in weak, though working order by a cadre of priests upon whom the mark of the mutant was writ clear and unambiguously.

- the "Varks" mentioned before is described as a "Pre-Heresy pattern vox unit". I'm kinda puzzled at this. A vox unit should not realistically have any way of contacting anyone outsystem, which means that either it was psychic in nature (as a brain I said) or the Space Marines and other Imperial forces just happend to be in system (or the nearest object of interest was a mere light year away) when the signal was launched, which I kinda doubt.

Note that if its artificial it does not have to be equal to astropathy - it could be a far weaker version that is slower and much shorter range (but easier to replicate than Astropathy). Basically it would be the 40K analogue to subspace radios vs Hyperwave or holonet. If we assume that the planet was some tens of light years away (about the average distance between planets in a subsector/sector) it would have a propogation rate of several tens of c. Further (hundreds or thousands of LY) would scale accordingly. Note that at the lower speeds it wouldn't be very effective at interstellar distances, except maybe at the subsector level (and even then it would take months or years for signals to cross the short distances.)

Page 217

To facilitate swift linguistic assimilation, my acolytes moved among the populace, recording speech patterns, grammatical deivations from standard gothic and the most prominent dialectical idosyncrasises. The codiciers in my party began analysing and catalouging the volumes kept in surprsingly good condition in the city librarium.

Note before that I said that the timing of events suggested that the Imeprials had been on planet for less than two years as of the Inquistorial signal. This means that it took less than two years for them to figure out the language. Whether or not this is remarkable I dont know, but I figured its worth noting it in any event.

Page 217

Though some among our ordo frown upon the tolerance and use of sanctioned psykers such as Gabriella, I have, on many occasions, found the insights she gained from subjects, without their knowledge, and thefreore without any attempt on their part to disguise the truth, to be invaluable.

Use of psykers as truth detectors as well as to psychically eavesdrop on people.

Page 223

- Here it's mentioned the planet has not only developed significant degrees of mutation, but also significantly higher (relatively speaking) level of psychic ability. I mention this because it puts the earlier allusions of the "Varks" responding to the presence of people an the people "feeling" its functioning in an interesting perspective - many of these people have above average psychic potential, and thus would be receptive to such things.

[Connor MacLeod]

Last update. an unpublished Cain short story. And Genestealer whores. Shroomy ought to love that angle.

Next anthology is Deathbringer!

Page 226

Indeed, since we were engaged in a protrcated campaign to cleanse the planet of a genestealer infestation, there was seldom anything to fire our guns at in any case. THe war was a subtle one for the most part, of counter-insurgency and surgical strikes, with the enemy seldom massing in numbers suffiicent to justify an artillery barrage.

Different kind of fighting for the Guard, but apparently they are capable of surgical strikes and counter-insurgecny (something that would normally be assumed to be an Astartes specialty.)

Also gives an insight into Genestealer tactics.

Page 226

Like most Agriworlds, Keffia was sparsely populated by Imperial standards.

..

Easier, in that cities were few and far between (I think there were no more than a dozen on the entire globe.)

Scale of urbanization (such as it is) on an Agri world.

Page 229

On occasion, we'd taken some fire from the cultists as soon as they realized we were sitting out ahead of our own lines calling in their positions to the battery, but to my well-disguised relief the subsequent barrages had taken care of that before they got close or accurate enough to be a real nuisance. To all intents and purposes they'd remained a distant threat, despite the occasional lasbolt putting a dent in the sandbags protecting us. Indeed, in all of these minor engagements I had never even seen the enemy close enough to tell whether they were true hybrids or merely their human dupes.

implied range of engagement against the genestealers - they're far enough away that easy idetnification is hard (well beyond pisto lshot?)

Also troopers serving as forward observers for the Arty. This suggests they're back at least beyond LoS.

Page 230

Unlike the iceworlders I served with I had my office and quarters open to the sweet spring breezes, instead of air conditioned to the temperature of a meat locker, and he clearly found the relative warmth mildly uncomfortable..

Valhallans favored temperatures.

Page 231

The nearest village to our artillery park, Pagus PArva, was about twenty minutes away, or ten the way Jurgen drove, so I had little time to enjoy the fresh spring air as it wafted in across the kilometers of open fields that lined the road.

Jurgen drives twice as fast as normal travel times.

Page 234

- The artillrey group Cain is attached to has 300 valhallans in it.

Page 240

- The local police, named Custodians, carry laspistols.

Page 242

- to summarize the plot: the Genestealers have been using at least one bar and brothel (and joygirls - the local term for hookers) to lure in and infect Guardsmen unawares. Cain, naturally, stumbles across the plan.

Page 243

A moment later Wynetha hit hte ground beside me, and I peppered the window above us with vindicitve enthusiasm, blowing the head of a thickset male from his shoulders. As he fell, I noticed a third arm growing from his right shoulder, tipped with razor-sharp talons.

Cain "blows the head off" a Genestealer hybrid with his laspistol. Doing so ought to be equivlaent (roughly) to between a full powered rifle round (or magnum cartirdge in general) to a HMG round like the .50 BMG depending on how charitable you want to be. Does not include possiblitiles like cauterization or burning effects, which could increase the figure by many times (or an OoM)

Page 244

She activated her personal vox as we ran.

One of hte femal Custodians has a personal vox unit.

Page 245

True, they were rear echelon warriors rather than frontline fighting troops - give them an earthshaker or two and they'd flatten a city block neat as you please - but small-arms weren't really their speciality. On the other hand they practiced assiduously on the shooting range, Monstrue saw to that, as he did every other regulation, and Ehrlsen at least was a pretty fair marksman.

small arms competency of artillery regiments - impiled to be in general, and the practices that are (in theory) applicable to them.

Page 247

Only then did I realize that several of our would-be assailants were falling, bloody craters exploding across their chests, and the distinctive crack of las-fire was comign from behind us now.

Las fire makes "bloody craters" in the chests of the opposition. Unknown for sure if its single or multiple craters, but usually Ehrlerson and Jurgen (the ones firing) used semi-auto aimed fire against their enemies, so its probably single shots, which suggests they put fairly big holes in their opponents chests. Curiously not cauterized though, suggesting different settings on lasguns.

Page 251

A las-bolt took her in the shoulder, spinning her back into my arms. I glanced at the wound, noting in passing that it was already cauterized so at least she wouldn't bleed to death, before handing her back to Larabi.

CAuterized shoulder wound. No way to guess at the size, save that the shoulder is intact and usable.

Page 252

Then I saw it too, the unmistakeable silhouette of an Imperila Chimera, and beind it another.. "its the Cadians!"

Sure enough the column of armoured vehicles bore the crest of the Cadian 101st, an elite assault regiment that had just arrived in the sector from the vicotrious campaign in the north.

Cadian "assault" regiment using chimeras.