Warhammer 40,000
The Eldar family tree and other fluff, is any of this to be released at any point?
There goes another little kitty... (anm. +D+ siehe Fantasy Teil des Interviews)
I assume this is referring to the diagram on page 44 of Codex: Eldar, which I dubbed the 'Eldar Metaphysics Flow Chart'. I've actually been doing a little bit of work on this with Jes Goodwin, and an updated version may see the light of day some time in the future. I still don't think it should be explained, although we hope to publish enough contextual material to make it decipherable.
If it doesn't refer to this, then I've got no idea what the question is asking!
Codex: Harlequins. Do you still have any connection with this? Will it receive a 4th Ed revision?
The Harlequins' fate is still undecided. It's not a question of if, but rather how and when.
Could you give us a general idea as to what direction the dev team is planning on taking the Dark Eldar? I'm mainly interested in army background and general playing style (if you guys have even considered that yet).
The main thrust will be giving them a full size Codex that allows us to explore more of their history and nature. We worked out quite a bit of detail last time around, but the size and style of the early 3rd edition Codexes precluded us from being able to publish much of it. Really, it's more detail on the Fall, the founding of Commoragh, the evolution of the sects (such as the Haemonculi and Wyches), as well as the disturbing nature of the Mandrakes and Scourges (which are supposed to be a lot darker than they are currently presented).
As for the playing style, I would expect them to retain the dynamic they have - fast, fragile and deadly. Without having reviewed the current list in detail yet, we can't point to any specific areas that need revision, although I suspect the most obvious ones have already been widely discussed on the 'net.
Did you view publishing VDR as a mistake? Or are there plans to enhance the rules for this in the future?
A mistake? Certainly not. When Jervis Johnson wrote the article, it was envisaged that it would allow people to make the wacky vehicle conversions and the deodorant tanks of the Rogue Trader days. The points values were very much on the high side so that the driver (no pun intended) was for the aesthetic rather than gaming angle. At the end of the day, Forge World has built a massive product line out of this simple idea!
Having been involved only lightly with 40K for the last few years, I'm not aware of the issues around the Vehicle Design Rules, so I can't really comment.
Are there any plans to expand on the whole Sensei, Illuminanti plot line in 40k?
No.
Dark Eldar are the Shiznit. Agree or Disagree?
Agree. When we get back to the Codex in the next few years, I'm looking forward to having the extra space to play around with (not that I'll necessarily write it myself, but you get my meaning). Introducing a whole new race in the 48pp format was very difficult.
Are dark angels going to get anything to replace the stuff they lost when the new SM codex and newest DA Q&A came out, (such as specialists in termie command squads and mixing assault and normal terminators)? (ED - I'd assume this means pre-Dark Angels Codex)
As far as I'm aware, there's no plans for the various Space Marine Chapters until their Codexes have been revisited properly over the next few years.
There has been talk that the vast majority of the design work of the chapter-specific Space Marine codecii was done at the time the main codex was being rewritten. Is this approach likely to become more used when there are armies which are deviations off a main theme, and does this allow you to balance the various books against each other better?
A part of the brief was for the revised Space Marine Codex to be compatible with the 'sub-Codexes' that work off its contents. However, this is not to pre-empt any decisions we'll make when it comes the time to address the Codex properly. On the whole, the plan is to make each a self-contained book, close in format to the Space Marines Codex, but no longer dependant upon it.
Black Library
Your novel Angels of Darkness has provoked a number of debates on the true nature of the Dark Angels. Would you say the view that was presented in the novel is a valid one, or merely an attempt by an unrepentant Fallen to try to corrupt a Chaplain?
I leave that entirely up to the reader to decide - it's kind of pivotal to the idea that I don't have an opinion on the matter!
Would you share the view of the Dark Angels presented in that book?
We've established that there's a link between the Legions and their Primarchs, and I wanted to explore this with regard to the suspicious, secretive nature of the Dark Angels and what it might imply for El'Jonson. It was also at this time that we were laying some of the groundwork for the Horus Heresy CCG and in a discussion with Alan Merrett I got very excited by the idea of the Old and New Legions and what this could mean with regard to the Dark Angels schism. I think that only I (and possibly Graham McNeill) would have been allowed to do what I did, but at the end of the day there is no definitive statements in the book, only viewpoints and even Astelan's opinion on the Lion is voiced as speculation.
Are you going to be writing any more novels for the Black Library?
I'm currently finishing Grudgebearer, a novel about Dwarfs and then I'm not sure. I certainly won?t be doing another for a while as I want to move house in the first part of this year, and so I'm limiting my freelance commitments. I also want to get back into painting and gaming a bit more, which have been subverted by work and the writing, and so hope to spend more weekends painting and less novelising.
Which of your BL novels to date have you enjoyed writing the most?
The first Slaves to Darkness book, 'Claws of Chaos'. It's the most character-driven novel I've done, and from people's responses the idea of there being no antagonist, merely opposed protagonists makes it very involving for the reader. Plus it's got the best hidden joke in it.
Which of your characters would you say you identify the closest with?
None of them, I hope! They're all a bit screwed up really, one way or another. Like any writer, you put different parts of yourself and your experiences into various characters, such as any particular hopes or fears that you may have or had. This only starts them off though, and if all goes well, they take over the story, just like the cliché says.
Allgemeiner Teil des Interviews hier.
Fantasy Teil des Interviews hier.
+D+
The Eldar family tree and other fluff, is any of this to be released at any point?
There goes another little kitty... (anm. +D+ siehe Fantasy Teil des Interviews)
I assume this is referring to the diagram on page 44 of Codex: Eldar, which I dubbed the 'Eldar Metaphysics Flow Chart'. I've actually been doing a little bit of work on this with Jes Goodwin, and an updated version may see the light of day some time in the future. I still don't think it should be explained, although we hope to publish enough contextual material to make it decipherable.
If it doesn't refer to this, then I've got no idea what the question is asking!
Codex: Harlequins. Do you still have any connection with this? Will it receive a 4th Ed revision?
The Harlequins' fate is still undecided. It's not a question of if, but rather how and when.
Could you give us a general idea as to what direction the dev team is planning on taking the Dark Eldar? I'm mainly interested in army background and general playing style (if you guys have even considered that yet).
The main thrust will be giving them a full size Codex that allows us to explore more of their history and nature. We worked out quite a bit of detail last time around, but the size and style of the early 3rd edition Codexes precluded us from being able to publish much of it. Really, it's more detail on the Fall, the founding of Commoragh, the evolution of the sects (such as the Haemonculi and Wyches), as well as the disturbing nature of the Mandrakes and Scourges (which are supposed to be a lot darker than they are currently presented).
As for the playing style, I would expect them to retain the dynamic they have - fast, fragile and deadly. Without having reviewed the current list in detail yet, we can't point to any specific areas that need revision, although I suspect the most obvious ones have already been widely discussed on the 'net.
Did you view publishing VDR as a mistake? Or are there plans to enhance the rules for this in the future?
A mistake? Certainly not. When Jervis Johnson wrote the article, it was envisaged that it would allow people to make the wacky vehicle conversions and the deodorant tanks of the Rogue Trader days. The points values were very much on the high side so that the driver (no pun intended) was for the aesthetic rather than gaming angle. At the end of the day, Forge World has built a massive product line out of this simple idea!
Having been involved only lightly with 40K for the last few years, I'm not aware of the issues around the Vehicle Design Rules, so I can't really comment.
Are there any plans to expand on the whole Sensei, Illuminanti plot line in 40k?
No.
Dark Eldar are the Shiznit. Agree or Disagree?
Agree. When we get back to the Codex in the next few years, I'm looking forward to having the extra space to play around with (not that I'll necessarily write it myself, but you get my meaning). Introducing a whole new race in the 48pp format was very difficult.
Are dark angels going to get anything to replace the stuff they lost when the new SM codex and newest DA Q&A came out, (such as specialists in termie command squads and mixing assault and normal terminators)? (ED - I'd assume this means pre-Dark Angels Codex)
As far as I'm aware, there's no plans for the various Space Marine Chapters until their Codexes have been revisited properly over the next few years.
There has been talk that the vast majority of the design work of the chapter-specific Space Marine codecii was done at the time the main codex was being rewritten. Is this approach likely to become more used when there are armies which are deviations off a main theme, and does this allow you to balance the various books against each other better?
A part of the brief was for the revised Space Marine Codex to be compatible with the 'sub-Codexes' that work off its contents. However, this is not to pre-empt any decisions we'll make when it comes the time to address the Codex properly. On the whole, the plan is to make each a self-contained book, close in format to the Space Marines Codex, but no longer dependant upon it.
Black Library
Your novel Angels of Darkness has provoked a number of debates on the true nature of the Dark Angels. Would you say the view that was presented in the novel is a valid one, or merely an attempt by an unrepentant Fallen to try to corrupt a Chaplain?
I leave that entirely up to the reader to decide - it's kind of pivotal to the idea that I don't have an opinion on the matter!
Would you share the view of the Dark Angels presented in that book?
We've established that there's a link between the Legions and their Primarchs, and I wanted to explore this with regard to the suspicious, secretive nature of the Dark Angels and what it might imply for El'Jonson. It was also at this time that we were laying some of the groundwork for the Horus Heresy CCG and in a discussion with Alan Merrett I got very excited by the idea of the Old and New Legions and what this could mean with regard to the Dark Angels schism. I think that only I (and possibly Graham McNeill) would have been allowed to do what I did, but at the end of the day there is no definitive statements in the book, only viewpoints and even Astelan's opinion on the Lion is voiced as speculation.
Are you going to be writing any more novels for the Black Library?
I'm currently finishing Grudgebearer, a novel about Dwarfs and then I'm not sure. I certainly won?t be doing another for a while as I want to move house in the first part of this year, and so I'm limiting my freelance commitments. I also want to get back into painting and gaming a bit more, which have been subverted by work and the writing, and so hope to spend more weekends painting and less novelising.
Which of your BL novels to date have you enjoyed writing the most?
The first Slaves to Darkness book, 'Claws of Chaos'. It's the most character-driven novel I've done, and from people's responses the idea of there being no antagonist, merely opposed protagonists makes it very involving for the reader. Plus it's got the best hidden joke in it.
Which of your characters would you say you identify the closest with?
None of them, I hope! They're all a bit screwed up really, one way or another. Like any writer, you put different parts of yourself and your experiences into various characters, such as any particular hopes or fears that you may have or had. This only starts them off though, and if all goes well, they take over the story, just like the cliché says.
Allgemeiner Teil des Interviews hier.
Fantasy Teil des Interviews hier.
+D+
"We will take the names of the ancient angels of terra! We shall steel our hearts with courage and shield ourselves with faith! In the emperor we shall trust! Like Angels of Death we shall smite his foes!"
