I agree with you for the big details. They shouldn't change those things. But I don't so far see a great deviation. Also, did Ward write this? My ebookee doesn't show the author, but I've heard someone else's name thrown around as the fluff master for this piece.
Yes, they hid the authors involved. It took a bit of research but it turns out this was a group effort between several authors with Ward heading the fluff with several writers and Rob Cruddance heading the rules. This was stated at Gamesday and also answered in a question on Games Workshop's Digital Releases Facebook page. As for the deviation, look at the introduction on how they describe the Imperial Fists. They're described as a group who are continually crusading, who never stopped the Great Crusade, who are not like those who fight to defend the Imperium and are scattered across the galaxy. All but one or two briefly mentioned events on the timeline are crusades in open battles, with few to no sieges or urban conflicts. They've effectively had their doctrines and approaches re-written from a general fluff perspective into being Black Templars.
Haha really? Ninja Ward now, huh? I thought an interesting point brought up on the B&C regarding the BT/IF crossover, that the BT never really continued the GC per se. The GC was only extant to restore Mankind's glory, to reclaim lost systems, whereas BT just crusade against any and all enemies of man, their aim not really being to bring back planets once part of the DAoT empire that existed. However, so far (31 pages into the book), there haven't been many 'reclamation crusades' mentioned, but that's probably because all they've talked about is Lysander, Lysander, Pugh, Lysander, and some more Lysander. But most of Lysander's battles after Maldorax seem to have been sieges, mainly against IW fortress worlds.
Thats BULL... The Fists are supposed to be the Imperium's foremost minds in defence and fortification. Its their damn speciality...Without it they just dont need to exist. Are you telling me that now they are a hybrid between Blood Angels and Ultras? For real...? I mean , i can understand if they do this to some halfbreed descendant chapter but to a founding legion with so much content and fluff to draw from...? These guyrs r supposed to be Knights in Space , chivalry and all.... I dunno wtf is wrong with GW. Its feels like they are bound to self-destruct their fluff.
Defence? They're the ones who got fucked over in the Iron Cage incident(s). Their expertise is siegecraft, not necessarily siege defence. If your perception of them is Knights in Space, then you should know that the Knights were at the forefront of all the Crusades in medieval times. And they're not a chapter that only deals with xenos incursions. That's only what the 3rd company was assigned to, and it was only because Lysander was specifically put in charge by Pugh and given that specific assignment because he was reckless and needed to learn a lesson. Nowhere does it even come close to implying that IF are Xenos specialists or anything of the sort. And they're still chivalrous, Lysander actually led the defense of Kalin, surprisingly enough. He only left the planet because he killed the Warboss and needed to investigate the Ork presence on the world of Viashan, which had just emerged from being covered by Warp Storms. Edit I can sort of see how one could think that IF are Xenos-centric, but the 2nd crusade right after the victory at Viashan was to deal with Tyranids...a threat that's not easily ignored in any way, shape or form.
In basic.... Imperial Fists = Iron Warriors Both are Siegers. Though Imperial Fists and Dorn built and lead the defense in "Battle of Terra" they moved on from being awesome defenders to being awesome besiegers.
Okay...currently about 1/2 way through the book, and so far it seems fairly well written and sensical. Honestly, Kilbo, I'm not sure what you're complaining about. To me, and you'll have to convince me otherwise, you're just ranting about the book about perceived wrongs that the writing team committed against the IF. As far as I can tell, the team did a pretty decent job at providing a snapshot history of the recent IF, mainly Lysander, Pugh, and Garadon. I don't see why anyone wouldn't/shouldn't want to buy it. Actually, the twist at the end is pretty damned good, and I like it. Props to the writing team.
Okay, let's make this very simple. How the book presents the Imperial Fists on the opening page: "The Imperial Fists were the Emperor’s praetorians throughout the Great Crusade, a duty they discharged with honour on worlds beyond count. Now, at the close of the 41st Millennium, the Legion is long gone, but the Chapter that bears its name maintains the duties and traditions of old. At the end of the Scouring, the Imperial Fists observed what they as saw the rest of the Imperium giving up on the Emperor’s dream of a united Mankind, and swore that they would continue the fight – alone if necessary. Thus, the Great Crusade never finished for the Imperial Fists. Whilst other Space Marine Chapters, and the Imperium at large, have focussed their efforts on preserving what remains, the Imperial Fists continue to campaign across the galaxy, prosecuting war against the enemies of Mankind and reclaiming worlds lost many thousands of years ago." The book then has them scattered across the galaxy on countless minor crusades, separated from one another and prosecuting their assaults against alien worlds. Few to any of these are even remotely siege related and the Imperial Fists have gained about six or seven degrees of zealous fanaticism, something the 6th edition Codex similarly tried to present them as having. At few to any points are they presented as doing anything siege related and, as seen in this introduction, the book mocks the very idea of them turning up to defend a world being besieged by an alien foe. The times in the book which does contradict this has them showing little to nothing of siege expertise nor experience, such as the battle where Lysander's bolter drill is first implemented. There are no details made about why that place was chosen, nor even of them setting up any kind of defences against the enemy foe. The few actual sieges which are present within the book are those not connected by the overarching storyline and were included on the timeline. These consist only of two or three events in total, and also read more like something added by someone else given that every single other event is completely centred to Lyander and Shon'tu. Every single other one is a "Crusade of X" and features the Imperial Fists performing the sort of continual assaults and charges Black Templars would be known for. The focus upon individual character in itself is a problem as it's reducing the army's focus to individuals, not the force as a whole. Rather than showing the accomplishments of the army or the accomplishments of predecessors, the book is extremely limited to a very specific timeframe and barely looks into their history beyond a brief part of M40, and later M41. Rather than using the characters as an insight into the army, the army is instead put as a secondary focus beyond the characters themselves making it look unimportant and the only points of real meaning being those figures the author has created. It neither reflects the long history of the army involved, nor allows players a degree of personal touch or choice which Warhammer is supposed to allow. This is made especially clear given that more pages are spent on Lyander's history than that of the Imperial Fists chapter or even the company the book is focusing upon. This has been a problem with many books in the past, but it's especially strong here given the fact someone tried to write it effectively as a short story. The short story in of itself is a major problem with many critical flaws. Chief among these is the fact it fails to reinforce and point out driving points in the story, especially those of importance. The reason for Lysander's rapid ascension to First Company Captain is only made worse by an immediate promotion from being the sergeant of another company, and fails to convey the idea he has earned enough experience or victories to truly earn the rank of what is effectively second in command of the chapter. His actions on earning captaincy and victories are skipped almost entirely purely to get to the siege where he takes up the hammer of Dorn. We go from about three paragraphs spent on a single battle, to three paragraphs supposedly devoted to his entire career. There is no balanced focus here, and the story itself often seems to be cutting corners in this manner, placing more time upon minor details than the major ones crucial to the story. This problem continues throughout with what is supposedly the entire driving force to Lysander's character and instead reduces seeing his comrades die, weeks of torture and eventual escape down to the following paragraph alone: "Such was Lysander’s force of will that he endured where few others could have done so. Though burdened by grievous harms, the captain tore free of his bondage scant weeks after his capture. Bereft of arms and armour, he wrought a storm of destruction on Malodrax’s capital, seized control of a shuttle, and escaped with two of his battle-brothers." It does nothing to convey just why this incident would drive him to the later extremes he was presented as doing later on, and in fact fails to impress its importance despite it being arguably the story's crucial point in building his character. Instead points are spent on trying to introduce Shon'tu, who just comes across as a poor man's Honsou at best. Actually even that sounds generous, as at least the Iron Warriors books showed Honsou actually working on his schemes, not yanking them out of his rectum. He also actually had some connection with the protagonist he was fighting. There is also a rather gaping plot hole left in the fates of the two he escapes with, who are neither referred to in the future despite Lyander supposedly being alone in the universe thanks to the time difference between the Warp and realspace. The problem with the book's focus and presenting events only continues later on, skipping the entirety of the Imperial Fist's return to Maldorax and burning the world. It does not express why this was enough to sate Lysander's desire for retribution and does nothing to suggest why he would so fanatically pursue the Iron Warriors in the future. That said, I will give the book credit on why Pugh allowed Lysander so much freedom and some of the problems his return caused. It's written relatively well, but is undercut by the poorly handled introduction to its subjects and extremely poorly handled confusion. Along with obviously being Iron Cage 2: Cage Harder, the Invasion of Taladorn does nothing to try and justify why Lysander would go as far as he did and makes him look extremely petty as a character. While it would have been an easy thing to present him as wanting retribution for the lives of those he lost to the Iron Warriors, it is written purely as self-serving revenge and nothing previously even begins to suggest anything so extreme was done to him. This would have made even it more like the original Iron Cage admittedly, but at least then it might actually have better meaning overall. We never get any personal thoughts, never any personal ideas in his mind and in fact the way it is written makes him look as if he puts personal revenge ahead of the lives of anyone under his command. It repeatedly commits the crime of telling the reader details rather than actually showing them to a person and as a result fails not only as a an army book but also as a character driven piece.
