Book 2 - Massacre (Introduction)
[DJ Khaled voice]: Another one!
That’s right! It seems like I just finished with Black Book 1, but I have Book 2 flying into your eye holes right now. Strap up because this Thunderhawk ride is about to get bumpy!
Thanks to everyone for the support so far. The last post about battlefield terrain actually outperformed the previous Isstvan-specific posts within about 24 hours. Self-promotion makes my skin crawl (no judgement, I consider it a character flaw that I can’t do it), so I am super inconsistent about advertising my posts.
Also, I should mention that I do have a full PDF for the entire Isstvan III campaign, if anyone wants all the information in one document. I am on version 1.1 at the moment, and I haven’t really been going back to updating the original posts too much. So, hit me up if you want that! It will only cost you free 99…
Like last time, I will do a quick introduction and overview for the entire book.
Massacre was published in 2013, so the calendar year after Betrayal. Interestingly, Book 3 dropped in 2014. So, it was only towards the later end that it started to take two years for a book to come out. Anyway, Massacre is all about the Isstvan V Dropsite Massacre. It is the time period GW dropped us into with the first Journal Tactica published alongside 3rd edition. That did make me a bit nervous about starting this series, but the Journal Tactica is less than 50 pages with one Legendary Mission.
I failed to mention it in my last overview, but one of the first things that drew me to the Black Books and Heresy is the book artwork. To this day, I still pull the books off the shelf to consult the color plates. All my books have multiple tabs, sticky notes, and random pieces of paper stuck between the pages. I think many people that own Black Books would say they are some of their most prized possessions.
Vulkan about to knock some sense into some traitorous bastard or another! One hopes it would be Lorgar…
Book 2 has over 160 pages of lore before you even get to the campaign system! That is about 20 pages more than a Book 1, a book the same length. The four Space Marine Legions from the previous episode have sections again, but we also have lore and art sections for the Iron Hands, Night Lords, Salamanders, and Word Bearers. (Sadly, you would have to wait until Book 3 for the Raven Guard, Iron Warriors, and Alpha Legion, Legions that did take part in this campaign.) Legio Atarus (the candy stripers!) even get a section.
The next chapter is the Dropsite Massacre campaign. As you know from the previous series, information on that will drop in sections to come! One thing to note, this campaign is a bit smaller and less detailed than the previous campaign. I have mixed feelings about that and may be cooking up something a little extra to add some flavor back in!
The Space Marine Crusade Army List gets a few new entries, and then all the Space Marine Legions that had lore sections also get some rules. Imagine, the Salamanders have had rules since 2013 but still have never had a character model of any sort produced in well over a decade. And they are even the poster marines for 3rd edition!
There are also some rules for Mechanicum here. If you are into that sort of thing. (At the time I wasn’t, but I have since gotten my upload.)
That’s just a quick introduction to the book. I have a 90% product for the campaign already and will be dropping it in parts over the coming days. Like with the previous campaign, I will also produce a consolidated PDF. I really love the Isstvan III story and feel like it gets passed over way too quickly. It really does feel like a historical campaign, more than most of the other big Heresy campaigns. However, Isstvan V did include a good majority of the legions as well as all the supporting cast (i.e. mortal cannon fodder).
So, let’s get stuck into Isstvan V!
Conclusion
Keep your eyes on this space! There are at least three posts coming in pretty quick succession! Maybe four…
In the meantime, you can check me out Instagram or Facebook!
