Warhammer Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader - turn-based Warhammer 40k RPG from Owlcat Games - Void Shadows DLC coming September 24th

[Grunker]

I am looking into playing this, but if you can believe it, I know next to nothing about this 40k universe.
What is a good Codex approved introduction to this world? (video, audio, etc)

I read a few books, most were absolute dogshit, but the first Horus Heresy book was pretty good and it's a good introduction to the world. Gaunt's Ghosts was also enjoyable. Both are available as audiobooks.

For lore and quick introductions to the concepts, Luetin is like the ultimate sleep-to-this channel on YouTube entire:



I'm not that into 40K tbh but I enjoy having Luetin in the background while doing other shit

Only the first HH book is readable.

That was my point, yes.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

I've since been told this and gone on a Pathfinder odyssey, playing Kingmaker in TB mode as long as I could. You can really tell the encounter design was built with RTWP in mind. Been brutally burned by Kingmaker so many times that I still haven't found the strength to give WOTR a proper try.

Wotr is better enjoyed using both modes. Harder fights you play on Turn based, fooder you play on RtwP. But honestly, if you didn't vibe with Kingmaker, Wrath is just that turn up to 11 with all the mythic powers.

Personally, i find harder to play WoTR/Kingmaker after playing Rogue Trader. Even if i preffer the building mechanics of Pathfinder, not having to deal with enemies with 56 AC at level 13 is refresing..

fuck everyone involved with Blackwater

 

[Yosharian]

I am looking into playing this, but if you can believe it, I know next to nothing about this 40k universe.
What is a good Codex approved introduction to this world? (video, audio, etc)

I read a few books, most were absolute dogshit, but the first Horus Heresy book was pretty good and it's a good introduction to the world. Gaunt's Ghosts was also enjoyable. Both are available as audiobooks.

For lore and quick introductions to the concepts, Luetin is like the ultimate sleep-to-this channel on YouTube entire:



I'm not that into 40K tbh but I enjoy having Luetin in the background while doing other shit

Only the first HH book is readable.

Complete nonsense.

There are at least 15 books that are excellent.

 

[skaraher]

You dont read much SciFi, do you ?

 

[Anonymous Ranger]

I am looking into playing this, but if you can believe it, I know next to nothing about this 40k universe.
What is a good Codex approved introduction to this world? (video, audio, etc)

I'm not sure if it's the best place to start but my intro to 40k was Dawn of War. If you like RTS it's probably worth looking into. I didn't really have much of an issue following what was going on even without knowing anything about the lore.

 

[Yosharian]

You dont read much SciFi, do you ?

More than you bitch

 

[skaraher]

You dont read much SciFi, do you ?

More than you bitch

I prefer quality over quantity.

 

[Yosharian]

You dont read much SciFi, do you ?

More than you bitch

I prefer quality over quantity.

Then why you'd accuse me of not having read enough? Lmao, contradicting yourself.

 

[Yosharian]

I dare you to read Legion, Know No Fear and Prospero Burns and then tell me with a straight face that they are 'unreadable'. Fucking laughable.

 

[thesecret1]

I read quite a few 40k books back in the day. Gaunt's Ghosts is indeed one of the more expansive series that introduces a lot of lore to the reader, just bear in mind that it's fairly poor quality where the whole main cast has massive plot armor that gets put in use constantly, to the point of silly shit like winning a 1v1 sword duel against a fucking chaos space marine and similar shit.

Space Wolves novels may actually be a better starting point since the MC starts off as some medieval savage that knows fuck all about the universe, and then is gradually introduced to it. They're also better written, IMO.

Ciaphas Cain novels are likewise pretty good and feature a lot of world building, and are written in a humorous tone rather than super serious grimdark, which may be a plus or a minus depending on your preferences.

Last Chancers also come to mind as having pretty good grimdark tone if you want that, though I don't think they do all that much world building.

 

[Fedora Master]

Gaunts Ghosts while good is just fairly standard mil-fic and it gets retarded and woke by the end.

The Infinite and the Divine is a great example of a 40K story, precisely because it doesn't revolve around humans.

 

[Israfael]

I dare you to read Legion, Know No Fear and Prospero Burns and then tell me with a straight face that they are 'unreadable'. Fucking laughable.

Those aren't the best read, Legion in particular (it appeared to me to style itself after some sort of "Creatures of Dark and Light" Zelazny novel, but executed that notion in a middling fashion). I much more enjoyed all the 40k and heresy books by Guy Haley and Chris Wraight, also the Dark Angels primaris novel was an entertaining read (lots of redditors hated it as it blemishes their views of what Dark Angels are (which is the typical three letter agency operatives with their particular mindset))

 

[Yosharian]

I dare you to read Legion, Know No Fear and Prospero Burns and then tell me with a straight face that they are 'unreadable'. Fucking laughable.

Those aren't the best read, Legion in particular (it appeared to me to style itself after some sort of "Creatures of Dark and Light" Zelazny novel, but executed that notion in a middling fashion). I much more enjoyed all the 40k and heresy books by Guy Haley and Chris Wraight, also the Dark Angels primaris novel was an entertaining read (lots of redditors hated it as it blemishes their views of what Dark Angels are (which is the typical three letter agency operatives with their particular mindset))

I liked Scars, but the stakes in that book weren't as high in my opinion. I haven't got to Warhawk yet. I have a bunch of books by Haley coming up. I wanted to read Konrad Curze but it's hard to find. I don't find the Dark Angels particularly interesting tbh.

I thought Legion was fascinating, if a bit of a slow burn. I think that's Dan Abnett's style generally with a lot of his HH books. I certainly wouldn't call it middling, but everyone's tastes are different after all. I'm simply against the idea that they are unreadable, that's ridiculous. Know No Fear in particular is excellent, and widely regarded as such.

 

[Tomas]

I started with the Through The Ashes dlc (wotr). It is only level 1 - 5, easier to get into especially playing turn based.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

I dare you to read Legion, Know No Fear and Prospero Burns and then tell me with a straight face that they are 'unreadable'. Fucking laughable.

Those aren't the best read, Legion in particular (it appeared to me to style itself after some sort of "Creatures of Dark and Light" Zelazny novel, but executed that notion in a middling fashion). I much more enjoyed all the 40k and heresy books by Guy Haley and Chris Wraight, also the Dark Angels primaris novel was an entertaining read (lots of redditors hated it as it blemishes their views of what Dark Angels are (which is the typical three letter agency operatives with their particular mindset))

I liked Scars, but the stakes in that book weren't as high in my opinion. I haven't got to Warhawk yet. I have a bunch of books by Haley coming up. I wanted to read Konrad Curze but it's hard to find. I don't find the Dark Angels particularly interesting tbh.

I thought Legion was fascinating, if a bit of a slow burn. I think that's Dan Abnett's style generally with a lot of his HH books. I certainly wouldn't call it middling, but everyone's tastes are different after all. I'm simply against the idea that they are unreadable, that's ridiculous. Know No Fear in particular is excellent, and widely regarded as such.

TBH fam, Legion is literally the only 40K book I put down (maybe like 10 years ago or so, really a long time) and didnt come back to it yet - and I absolutely love p. much everything that Dan Abnett writes otherwise. Anyway, I plan to give it a go again at some point, though my 40K backlog is pretty long as it is.

Anyway, recently I read:

Outgunned - was p. wary of it at the start since it looked like it had a forced stronk female protagonist, but actually ended up thinking it was OK. One of the relatively few books focused on Aeronautica Imperialis, plus it actually shows stormtroopers/Tempestus Scions in pretty positive light, which is also rather rare take and the one I certainly like as a huge stormtrooper enjoyer.

King of the Spoil - one of the 40K detective books set on the Serb/Croat/Czech hive world. P. decent read, I liked the main characters a lot, the central conspiracy that the book deals with was interesting and I sure hope to see a sequel at some point. Some of the slav names in the book are fairly ridiculous (in a good way) as a bonus, there is a character called Sileny Fiala (ie Šílený Fiala in Czech, which appears to be a dig at the current Prime Minister, I find it hard to believe that this is a coincidence even though the author is supposed to be a britbong).

Incarnation - the second book in the Horusian Wars series and a real banger, just like the first one (Resurection), John French might be on the way to some Eisenhorn/Ravenor tier greatness here, trully a great Inquisition focussed book.

 

[Axel_am]

I've read only Fire Caste from the Warhammer books. I've read people say this isn't the typical Warhammer book, but it's self contained and I think it captures the chaotic nature of Warhammer rather well. People dying left and right, the void making people go crazy, insane battles with over the top moments, soldiers tormented by their past, fragile alliances that come with the constant threat that somebody is going to get shot in the back of his head by his so called allies and some pretty cool and memorable characters.

Back then I didn't fully understand what I was reading as everything was so chaoting but now that I have more context about the Warhammer universe I think it captures the whole feeling of 40k pretty damn well.

I have the Grey Knights Omnibus, First and Only and Void King in my library currently. I've started reading Void King which is about a Rogue Trader that has to take up the mantle after his father is assassinated but dropped it halfway. I might get back to it someday but it's for sure something very different compared to Fire Caste.

 

[Yosharian]

TBH fam, Legion is literally the only 40K book I put down (maybe like 10 years ago or so, really a long time) and didnt come back to it yet - and I absolutely love p. much everything that Dan Abnett writes otherwise. Anyway, I plan to give it a go again at some point, though my 40K backlog is pretty long as it is.

So it's a weird one, I listened to it on audiobook and for the first, I dunno hour maybe, I was totally turned off, like what the fuck is this even a Horus Heresy book? But once I took another crack at it and let Dan cook a bit, it started to develop a bit of momentum and by the end I was really impressed by it. The Alpha Legion are a real odd bunch compared to the other legions, traitor or otherwise, but in the end I found it quite refreshing.

 

[Yosharian]

Outgunned - was p. wary of it at the start since it looked like it had a forced stronk female protagonist, but actually ended up thinking it was OK. One of the relatively few books focused on Aeronautica Imperialis, plus it actually shows stormtroopers/Tempestus Scions in pretty positive light, which is also rather rare take and the one I certainly like as a huge stormtrooper enjoyer.

Ooh this looks neat. Gonna pick it up.

Fire Caste is on pbay, awesome

 

[Reinhardt]

and it gets retarded and woke by the end.

and then everyone died. seriously, i liked last book delving into horror territory.

 

[Desiderius]

I've since been told this and gone on a Pathfinder odyssey, playing Kingmaker in TB mode as long as I could. You can really tell the encounter design was built with RTWP in mind. Been brutally burned by Kingmaker so many times that I still haven't found the strength to give WOTR a proper try.

Wotr is better enjoyed using both modes. Harder fights you play on Turn based, fooder you play on RtwP. But honestly, if you didn't vibe with Kingmaker, Wrath is just that turn up to 11 with all the mythic powers.

Personally, i find harder to play WoTR/Kingmaker after playing Rogue Trader. Even if i preffer the building mechanics of Pathfinder, not having to deal with enemies with 56 AC at level 13 is refresing..

fuck everyone involved with Blackwater

No reason to do Blackwater at 13 and if you can’t beat 56AC at that level why are you playing Unfair in the first place? Not like the mobs there are especially dangerous if you don’t kill them right away and the Regen can be turned off with any source of Shock or Adamantine.

They even give you Wand of Call Lightning and Bracers that maje all damage Shock (and give a spontaneous caster Shock spells).

 

[Jermu]

blackwater has been nerfed at least once after release I felt it was pretty easy now compared to my first playthrough struggle

think enemies had higher ac, immunity to lightning too? with my last playthrough I found wintersun area significantly harder

have not played rogue trader for a while I should check if I can still kill final boss in 1 turn/round with cassia and the gang

 

[Dishonoredbr]

I've since been told this and gone on a Pathfinder odyssey, playing Kingmaker in TB mode as long as I could. You can really tell the encounter design was built with RTWP in mind. Been brutally burned by Kingmaker so many times that I still haven't found the strength to give WOTR a proper try.

Wotr is better enjoyed using both modes. Harder fights you play on Turn based, fooder you play on RtwP. But honestly, if you didn't vibe with Kingmaker, Wrath is just that turn up to 11 with all the mythic powers.

Personally, i find harder to play WoTR/Kingmaker after playing Rogue Trader. Even if i preffer the building mechanics of Pathfinder, not having to deal with enemies with 56 AC at level 13 is refresing..

fuck everyone involved with Blackwater

No reason to do Blackwater at 13 and if you can’t beat 56AC at that level why are you playing Unfair in the first place? Not like the mobs there are especially dangerous if you don’t kill them right away and the Regen can be turned off with any source of Shock or Adamantine.

They even give you Wand of Call Lightning and Bracers that maje all damage Shock (and give a spontaneous caster Shock spells).

The fights aren't hard, just a slog. Especialy with the AI ignoring engagement and targeting anyone they want at any moment.

It just turn into my character chasing demons around entire place because they won't let my archer go. My PC is basically immortal against them.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

with my last playthrough I found wintersun area significantly harder

Outside of the optional tree fight on the hill, Wintersun was a breeze as drunken master.

 

[La vie sexuelle]

I am looking into playing this, but if you can believe it, I know next to nothing about this 40k universe.
What is a good Codex approved introduction to this world? (video, audio, etc)

I read a few books, most were absolute dogshit, but the first Horus Heresy book was pretty good and it's a good introduction to the world. Gaunt's Ghosts was also enjoyable. Both are available as audiobooks.

For lore and quick introductions to the concepts, Luetin is like the ultimate sleep-to-this channel on YouTube entire:



I'm not that into 40K tbh but I enjoy having Luetin in the background while doing other shit

Only the first HH book is readable.

Complete nonsense.

There are at least 15 books that are excellent.

Name one, non slop warham novel.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

I am looking into playing this, but if you can believe it, I know next to nothing about this 40k universe.
What is a good Codex approved introduction to this world? (video, audio, etc)

I read a few books, most were absolute dogshit, but the first Horus Heresy book was pretty good and it's a good introduction to the world. Gaunt's Ghosts was also enjoyable. Both are available as audiobooks.

For lore and quick introductions to the concepts, Luetin is like the ultimate sleep-to-this channel on YouTube entire:



I'm not that into 40K tbh but I enjoy having Luetin in the background while doing other shit

Only the first HH book is readable.

Complete nonsense.

There are at least 15 books that are excellent.

Name one, non slop warham novel.

Horus Rising (in fact most of the Horus Heresy series is p. gud)
Eisenhorn series
Ravenor series
vast majority of the Gaunts Ghosts series (I would perhaps not count Ghost Maker, as it is a collection of short stories)
Horusian Wars series
Shira Calpurnia series
Last Chancers series
Siege of Terra series
Inquisition War series
Execution Hour/Shadowpoint (I guess I could call them a Gothic War series too)
plenty of the old Necromunda books were p. good too - I would name Junction as an example

I mean this is already 30+ books right here, want me to keep going?