Upon reflection, the Blackshields were porbably one of the most obvious things to add to 30K. Given the popularity of loyalists among the traitor legions, the scattered numbered of units, and the subject of possible defectors from each side, it opened many doors. It's the sort of thing the books have gone back to time and time again after all, with Scars introducing a massed attempt by the White Scars to join Horus. So, having a general group of renegades, pirates, fanatics and vengeful warriors opened the door for players and authors alike without the need for more convoluted elements at this late stage in the story.
As the first tale to truly focus upon this group, Blackshields: The False War follows the example set by the Forgeworld rulebooks, but shows things from a more personal level. How well it works out might be up to the listener more than you would think though.
Synopsis
The story here follows the attempt by the forge of Xana-Tisiphone to defect to Horus' side. Having failed to convince them to remain loyal, Rogal Dorn's response has been to crush all resistance there and bring them to heel. Yet, as the war between two battlefleets rages over the world, another force is at work. A group of black clad renegades seek to claim something from the planet for themselves, and turn the ongoing conflict to their advantage...
The Good
Given how recent a concept the Blackshields are, the characters here seem to have been structured to explore the basics of what can be done with such a unit. Their tactics, how they approach a seemingly impossible target such as Xana for a raid, and what drives them are all core to the story's main themes. Furthermore, the audio drama tries to prevent them simply being outright "good guys" like Garro, Varren or others. They might not have opted to side with Horus, but that hardly means that they will side with the Emperor either. This point is clear with their leader, the former World Eater, Endryd Haar who seems to be on the verge of utterly losing it at every turn. He is presented as insane, driven by little more than a cold rage and hunger for revenge, but that is simply directed against Horus. As he says himself in the story, he prefers to fight traitors, but will turn on loyalists if they get in his way.
Even the seemingly more upstanding examples of Haar's unit are not necessarily better, even if they might be more sane. Most simply want to follow their own path without siding with either side, and the most morally upstanding among them simply wants to try and weather the storm until one side eventually wins. It's an interesting contrast to the tales we have seen up to this point, and it helps to give a broad identity to this group. Both in terms of better humanizing them (especially as most astartes seemed to be that much more human in their behaviour prior to the Codex's implementation - just read Horus Rising again) but also giving fans more of a basis to create their own Blackshield groups.
The story is self-contained and extremely well presented, but there's enough additional elements to help inspire the fandom to be that much more creative with what they make. Whether this was Reynolds intent or not, that's something I personally feel is always praiseworthy in such tales. Hell, the simple fact that we finally have solid confirmation of a World Eater marine who refused the Nails and lived (something it needed after the Garro book muddled the subject surrounding Varren) or an unusual take on former Death Guard adds more for people to think about.
Sticking to more of the story's main concepts however, what's impressive is how it forgoes a few expected tropes. You will not even realise just what direction the tale is taking first or how it has been structured. Given all we know is that Blackshields were involved in fighting the the forge's forces, the story takes a few liberties to present them at another angle. So, rather than an assault mission, spec-ops infiltration effort or assassination attempt on the forge's leader, it's presented as more of a heist at first. One where you do not know the full details of the plan at first, but it unfolds as things move along. It's certainly an interesting angle to take, and the greater freedom this allows permits the story to take much more time in fleshing out the Blackshields themselves or their motivations over out and out combat.
Over the entire story, and ignoring the space battle taking place elsewhere, there are perhaps only five or six shots loosed in total. The building tension and risk factor involved as things start to go wrong is less Ocean's Eleven and more Inglourious Basterds in terms of its presentation. The sheer unpredictability of the tale, and several curve-balls which emerge during the final act, assists the story in keeping the reader guessing until the end. You might predict the eventual choice Haar will make, but not what motivates him or the actions he will take to secure it.
The use of older legion traits to define certain characters or the behaviour of the Blackshields themselves also significantly assists making them stand out from their contemporaries. While it's hardly a one-to-one translation, many ideologies and attitudes which governed the Dusk Riders and War Hounds show up here, especially the latter group in terms of how Haar leads his warband. Given how much exposure both legions have seen of late, it's another element which allows the story to remain fresh to casual readers, but adds points of interest to avid lore fanatics. It's especially jarring when you see the lengths Horus himself will go to in order to secure Xana's loyalty, and the weapons it offers.
Finally however, and most pressingly, is how the take manages to handle the long range battle. As most of the action here is a backdrop to the story and little more than a pressing timer for the Blackshields, it could have had little effect upon the tale. Instead, the ruler of the Forge is constantly witnessing events through data, updates and ongoing information, inserted between the negotiations and displays of the war engines being handed over to Horus' side. This is conveyed as much through MIU data as it is the sound effects of surface to orbit batteries activating, the quiet reactions of the characters and general data. While it might not be wholly obvious at first, the surprisingly subtlety and effectiveness of both the sound effects and vocal direction offers another layer of atmosphere and realism to the story which prior outings have usually lacked. This isn't to say that the previous ones were bad, simply that this new depiction definitely has an edge.
So, what are the problems then?
The Bad
While this might sound as if it is immediately going back on what was previously said, the Blackshields themselves unfortunately lack some depth as characters. Now, this isn't to say that they're badly written or even that they lack personality, but all too often it seems that they are an amalgamation of background ideas or in a few cases exist primarily to create conflict. Haar himself is the exception to this, but once you get beyond him there is little to truly work with. Many of the background Death Guard unfortunately end up being relatively interchangeable, and most of their lines serve to reflect upon Haar's character.
The same is true even of the main "villain" of the piece, as Gilim Raijan seems too much of a toady to be a real threat. He's excellently voice acted, and well written in his own right, but his role seems to be that of a secondary antagonist or a minion over a true villain. This unfortunately leaves parts of the story without some innate direction, and it does blunt some of the threat of the Blackshields being found out when the closest thing they have to a true foe is almost being played for a joke.
Another definite problem is how the story also seems to have trouble doing more than telling the audience of certain events. Many points here and there are conveyed only through dialogue between the characters or reflections, which is definitely a strength of audio dramas on the whole, but it rarely seems to pause to offer much in the way of direct descriptions. We get a few remarks upon certain war engines, a nice opening discussing the industrial nature or the world and Raijan's grossly mechanical features, but this falls away as it moves on. So, things like the bloody price the Blackshields will be paying or some of the threats they face lack impact because you simply have a character thinking back to them or saying "Oh, that's there as well."
However, the most pressing problem surrounds the battle itself. As mentioned previously, the actual space battle is little more than a backdrop to events and it works for the heist itself. However, the constant updates, details and twists always gives the impression it is building towards something. We eventually get that exact payoff, and see the surprise turn come into play as the tables are turned on the traitors. Then, quite abruptly, the story ends. This makes the tale seem like the first act of a bigger event, and it's stopping right before it gets to the meat of the action. As a result, the depiction can seem underwhelming in how it leads up to a conflict but fails to resolve it or even offer true closure for the Blackshields themselves in this endeavor. As a result, it seems as if it seriously needed another ten minutes to properly wrap things up.
The Verdict
Blackshields: The False War is decent overall, but definitely flawed in a few places. While it is strongly recommended to fans of this group or people looking for a few more side stories to the war, it needed a little more to work with in my opinion. As a result, we get parts of a great tale, but just not something which feels like a whole one.
With that being said, if the intent was for this to lead into an ongoing series of audio dramas, it would be a solid start for such an effort. Flawed to be sure, but the same could be said of the Garro tales before it delivered two excellent works after Oath of Moment. Perhaps we'll get lucky and see more of them as time goes by.
Verdict: 6.5 out of 10
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