JReynolds Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 7 minutes ago, Kirjava13 said: See?!? Poor old Pestilens. What a difference a year makes. Really. The naming conventions were changed when BL was incorporated into GW Publications. For the first year or so, the novels were intended to be the equivalent of the narrative text-boxes you see in the rules and the battletomes - all of the lore, all of the world-building was intended to take place in the novels, and those novels were to be heavily tied to the appropriate releases - hence the spate of 'does what it says on the tin' titles . Buy the battletome, buy the novel (or anthology marketed as a novel) with the same cover, buy the models - all very easy, very consumer-friendly. At least in theory. In practice, it didn't work so well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirjava13 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 That's all really interesting to know, thanks Josh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dosaceos Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 19 minutes ago, JReynolds said: At least in theory. In practice, it didn't work so well. What went wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 On 1/12/2019 at 12:44 PM, Skreech Verminking said: Well I’m actually thinking of buying the book eight lametation:spear of shadow, since i heard that the skaven are a big thing in there. I am about 130 pages into Spear of Shadows and it is great, but the coolest Skaven I’ve read about is in the Black Rift book (even though it’s mostly about Stormcast & Khorne) although I did get excited when that same rat appeared in Spear of Shadows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JReynolds Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 36 minutes ago, dosaceos said: What went wrong? As near as I can figure - and bear in mind this is based on what I saw and encountered as a freelancer - the initial marketing team for AoS had no plan for the novels beyond the title/cover synergy of the first handful of releases. The books veered wildly in format, due to author availability, scheduling, etc. and weren't promoted with anything approaching consistency. There were a lot of last minute changes to works-in-progress, a lot of internal issues relating to 'need-to-know', a priority placed on deadlines and word count over narrative, and an on-again, off-again push to reduce author-impact, i.e. no bylines (or a change to collective pen names), no authorial promotion, no author/brand connection, that sort of thing. tldr; the initial marketing/production effort was extremely disorganised, leading to a variety of issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dosaceos Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 3 minutes ago, JReynolds said: tldr; the initial marketing/production effort was extremely disorganised, leading to a variety of issues. How would you say things are different now? (If they are, that is. It seems like it to me.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JReynolds Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 4 minutes ago, dosaceos said: How would you say things are different now? (If they are, that is. It seems like it to me.) Well, BL has split off from Publications, which means it functions more like a traditional publisher. At the beginning of AoS, books were determined by the release schedule - if there's an orruk faction book coming out, then there's an orruk novel coming out, and if no one is available to write it (or no one wants to) then, well, there's no novel that month. You wrote what marketing said was needed, or you didn't write. Nowadays, while some of the books are tied to releases (*cough* Soul Wars *cough*), most aren't. Basically, we're now asked to pitch story ideas, rather than writing to a brief provided by someone in Publications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenshin620 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Really interesting to see the insight on how BL worked in the past and now. Thanks for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overread Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 2 hours ago, JReynolds said: Well, BL has split off from Publications, which means it functions more like a traditional publisher. At the beginning of AoS, books were determined by the release schedule - if there's an orruk faction book coming out, then there's an orruk novel coming out, and if no one is available to write it (or no one wants to) then, well, there's no novel that month. You wrote what marketing said was needed, or you didn't write. Nowadays, while some of the books are tied to releases (*cough* Soul Wars *cough*), most aren't. Basically, we're now asked to pitch story ideas, rather than writing to a brief provided by someone in Publications. Out of interest as you're pitching ideas how does this line up with army/faction representation. Are there incentives or measures to try and ensure that you don't end up all writing the same characters/factions; so that one doesn't accidentally end up with major factions with nothing written for them whilst another becomes the "poster child" (a bit like how marines dominate the 40K world). And yeah this thread went places I did not expect, but they are great places! Though I am starting to feel guilty about pestering you @JReynolds about this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyriakin Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 2 hours ago, JReynolds said: Well, BL has split off from Publications, which means it functions more like a traditional publisher. At the beginning of AoS, books were determined by the release schedule - if there's an orruk faction book coming out, then there's an orruk novel coming out, and if no one is available to write it (or no one wants to) then, well, there's no novel that month. You wrote what marketing said was needed, or you didn't write. Nowadays, while some of the books are tied to releases (*cough* Soul Wars *cough*), most aren't. Basically, we're now asked to pitch story ideas, rather than writing to a brief provided by someone in Publications. Sounds like a move from top-down to bottom-up, whereby the creatives are now somewhat taking the lead with ideas and selling these ideas to the bean-counters (rather than the other way around). That bodes well. -------------------------------- In terms of the thread topic, wasn't there hints of a TK-esque faction? Red Chariots of the Sun King, or something like that? My BCR would be on eBay within 15 nanoseconds of such a thing being announced/leaked. Beastclaw, you've grown on me and all, but it all about the Tomb Kings for me. Actually, the longer the current TK have gone without being officially squatted, the more I feel I should have stuck with them anyway. That said, it is/was no fun building an army with the Sword of Damocles hanging over it. That blade could fall on any day with no warning (see Gitmob Grots). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkanaut Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 There is a lore mention of Gholem kind that was made by Grungi. They are kind of his wayward kin and I don't think they see eye to eye for some reason. Could be another dawi faction. Of all the stuff mentioned in the lore this is the army I want to see the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 10 hours ago, Blightzkrieg said: Wouldn't it be called Astra Militarum? That would depend on whether you're a longbeard or a beardling. 😁 My personal theory/wishlist from the lore would be a Kharadron battleship, I don't think they're mentioned in the Kharadron novel but there are two pieces of artwork and a little bit of lore I found in the KO battletome (along with references to several other classes of airships such as minelayers and 'Grundcarriers'). Spoiler Myself, and I imagine a lot of other people got into KO because of the airships, and it gives GW a great excuse to sell something BIG. It's probably not going to happen and it's probably not practical, but still, I am absolutely enamoured with the idea of a flying Battleship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JReynolds Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 6 hours ago, Overread said: Out of interest as you're pitching ideas how does this line up with army/faction representation. Are there incentives or measures to try and ensure that you don't end up all writing the same characters/factions; so that one doesn't accidentally end up with major factions with nothing written for them whilst another becomes the "poster child" (a bit like how marines dominate the 40K world). And yeah this thread went places I did not expect, but they are great places! Though I am starting to feel guilty about pestering you @JReynolds about this stuff. No need for guilt. I'm happy to do it. To answer the question - and tie it back in to the main topic, somewhat - generally no, but sometimes specifically yes. There are certain factions that have to be written about, either because they're a flagship faction (Stormcast) or because they play a part in an upcoming event or release (Nighthaunt, Gloomspite, etc.). Tzeentch, for instance, started popping up a lot, prior to the Disciples of Tzeentch release. Too, occasionally an editor(s) will spy a hole in the schedule, and want something specific to occupy it. More rarely, you'll have editors and authors working together to exploit some part of the lore that has been previously ignored, or underutilised - this is where stuff like Eight Lamentations, or Callis and Toll, came from. There'd been a lack of 'normal person' fiction, so a number of us were pushed to pitch some. A thing to remember as well is that we have a somewhat freer hand regarding the background in AoS than we do in 40K - or such has been my experience. There are fewer things we can't do, and so we tend to test the limits regarding background a bit more. So an interesting tidbit in a novel might well just be an author filling in a perceived gap with some word-spackle, rather than a hint at things to come. Root-Kings, for instance...duardin making things out of wood, living under mountainous trees? Probably never going to be a thing, outside of my books and people's conversions. Or, say, just because there's a Deadwalker character in Soul Wars, that doesn't mean that said sub-faction is going to get attention anytime soon. Sometimes we get away with stuff like that specifically because the design team have no immediate plans for a faction. Of course, that can change at any time, and often without notice. Sometimes the design team sees the same gap we do, and come at from their direction, even as we come at it from ours - the presence of Ghosteater in Black Pyramid, for instance, dovetails nicely with the Beasts of Chaos battletome release, even though I had no idea the latter was a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khadgar567 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 56 minutes ago, JReynolds said: Root-Kings, for instance...duardin making things out of wood, living under mountainous trees? Probably never going to be a thing, outside of my books and people's conversions. Or, say, just because there's a Deadwalker character in Soul Wars, that doesn't mean that said sub-faction is going to get attention anytime soon. Sometimes we get away with stuff like that specifically because the design team have no immediate plans for a faction. or is it mate from what i understand and speculate this makes a sylvaneth version of duradin thus expends the alarielle the ever radiants forces and for all, I can guess makes the 5th aspect of duradin society were nature loving duradin concept can be utilized. all in all, it worths few units and small alliance worth maybe games workshop can test the waters by creating underworld Warband for them to gauge the interest. which for my self feels peeked enough to maybe buy the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overread Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 I guess I always imagined that GW had some master copy of maps, lore and timeline structure pinned in a big PDF (or several) for authors to dip into to make use of so that you didn't end up tripping over each other or tacking the same idea from such different angles that it creates two separate situations. Then again I get the feeling that at the moment the Realms are in a kind of high state of change and, whilst Chaos is being pushed out, the realms are still in quite a lot of general chaos. So an ideal time for general confusion and great change. That said do you envision them slowing things down timescale wise? One thing I noted is that we jump from Realmgate novels set right at the start of the age to stories such as Heart of Winter where its clear that there's been stable populations of people for generations rebuilding over old settlements retaken from Chaos. So that suggests at least a few hundred years to get to that sort of stability and level of construction whereby everyone and their grandparents are not recalling the horrors of the Age of Chaos and where populations have rebounded from being slaughtered by roving bands of Chaos. All that is fine, but it makes it hard to envision the realms and the war at large and its hard to establish characters (esp any human ones) of note because they could be alive in one novel and an historical figure in another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMMachine Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 1 hour ago, JReynolds said: Root-Kings, for instance...duardin making things out of wood, living under mountainous trees? Probably never going to be a thing, outside of my books and people's conversions. I actually can see something like that as with Fyreslayers (with natural colored or green beards and with tattoos instead of ur-gold runes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michu Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 19 minutes ago, EMMachine said: I actually can see something like that as with Fyreslayers (with natural colored or green beards and with tattoos instead of ur-gold runes). Lugash would be mad. Jokes aside, I really hope Root-kings will inspire one of the sculptors. Dwarfs (Duardin) associated not with rocks, but wood are not common in fantasy and it would be nice to see how GW handles that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMMachine Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 1 hour ago, michu said: Lugash would be mad. Jokes aside, I really hope Root-kings will inspire one of the sculptors. Dwarfs (Duardin) associated not with rocks, but wood are not common in fantasy and it would be nice to see how GW handles that. If you mean the Character from Eight Lamentations (a book that I haven't read yet). I didn't mean that these guys would be Fireslayers, more some sort of Duardin Tribesmen, and Fyreslayers are the next thing to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michu Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 @EMMachine Actually Root-Kings are not the only forest duardins. In Spear of Shadows there is also (SPOILER!) Spoiler Fyreslayer's lodge carved in giant tree in the forest of Gorch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecktron Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 9 hours ago, Storm said: That would depend on whether you're a longbeard or a beardling. 😁 My personal theory/wishlist from the lore would be a Kharadron battleship, I don't think they're mentioned in the Kharadron novel but there are two pieces of artwork and a little bit of lore I found in the KO battletome (along with references to several other classes of airships such as minelayers and 'Grundcarriers'). Hide contents Myself, and I imagine a lot of other people got into KO because of the airships, and it gives GW a great excuse to sell something BIG. It's probably not going to happen and it's probably not practical, but still, I am absolutely enamoured with the idea of a flying Battleship. Agreed! I think new/more Sky-vessels would be a great way to expand the Kharadron Overlords. It would be enough for me if GW only makes ships situated between the Ironclad and the Gunhauler (from a size perspective) but FW should really start getting their AoS team going! Big ships and upgrade sets for existing ships would be ideal for a test run! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eekamouse Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Not to derail the thread any further but Nick Horth talked pretty extensively as well about the narrative process on the latest Stormcast podcast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melcavuk Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 2 hours ago, Gecktron said: Agreed! I think new/more Sky-vessels would be a great way to expand the Kharadron Overlords. It would be enough for me if GW only makes ships situated between the Ironclad and the Gunhauler (from a size perspective) but FW should really start getting their AoS team going! Big ships and upgrade sets for existing ships would be ideal for a test run! Would love to see a new ship by way of Gyro-copter carrier, able to launch, repair and maintain a fleet of gyrocopters/bombers etc. Big support unit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beliman Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 14 hours ago, Storm said: Myself, and I imagine a lot of other people got into KO because of the airships, and it gives GW a great excuse to sell something BIG. It's probably not going to happen and it's probably not practical, but still, I am absolutely enamoured with the idea of a flying Battleship. Which chaos god I need to pray to make this thing real?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overread Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 11 minutes ago, Beliman said: Which chaos god I need to pray to make this thing real?! The one who is in charge of the return of Warmaster Or Khorne or Nurgle as they appear to be the patron gods of Forgeworld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkWingDuck Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Circling back to the topic of this thread. From the Warqueen, the Blood Marshal felt like a new "thing". I can usually spot the miniature that provided inspiration for various characters, but I couldn't think of a Khorne equivalent for this guy (other than maybe generic Chaos Lord). He's described as being similar to a Blood Warrior only 3 times the size. So an Ogre+ sized Blood Warrior. I liked how it was implied that it was his mission to create/find new Blood Warriors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.