So, yeah, it turns out that the new object is a Blackstone Fortress. After yesterday's announcement I did not expect so rapid a turn-around, but here we are. As part of the NOVA announcements, Games Workshop unveiled a large number of new releases from across all their ranges. I strongly advise anyone to read it here, as there is some damn good stuff, and I wouldn't be adding anything by simply repeating that information. Still, if you need a good reason to delve into it: There's not only word of new Sisters of Battle releases, but the continuation of a much believed 40K themed webcomic. Yes, Turn Signals on a Land Raider is back, people!
Still, onto the subject at hand. The Blackstone Fortress was fully unveiled in this trailer, where we are given a glimpse of the ominous ancient device:
The re-introduction itself is to be part of a game, a Warhammer Quest style experience in the same vein as Silver Tower. With the successes seen in Age of Sigmar and a Rogue Trader tabletop experience on the horizon, this is a further push to emphasize tabletop mini-games over large ongoing experiences. While we know little of the core rules themselves, the setting isn't dramatically dissimilar to the likes of Shadespire, as it's a vast mysterious object with a history linked to the galaxy's ancient past.
The big question surrounding this is if there will be a greater meaning behind this. The Blackstone Fortresses were (supposedly) a key part of Abaddon the Despoiler's plan to break the Cadian Gate and establish his own powerbase. This mostly boiled down to using them as an orbiting gun platform, but until now we thought that the few in the Gothic sector were all those that existed. Finding a new one elsewhere, even a single new station unclaimed by Chaos, opens up a number of new questions. The big one among them is just how many others there might be, and if this might influence future events relating to Chaos, the Necrons and the Imperium at large. After all, a C'tan Shard was concerned enough to manipulate Abaddon into destroying several fortresses and claiming others for himself, just to make sure they are out of the way. This isn't the sort of thing which can just be introduced and then left at that.
It might be a push to claim that this is a major story development, given that this is supposed to be a single one-shot game. However, I previously made that mistake of thinking the same thing when it came to Death Masque and that kicked off a major change within the universe. Yes, it was horribly written and the follow-up story was easily the worst part of the Gathering Storm, but the point is that it could be the start of something new. If you do think that this is hyperbole in some way, even ignoring the fact that these are ancient machines which are seemingly beyond even the technologies of the Eldar and Necron races combined, these things are planet killers. Once activated, they can chew through worlds, and blow up suns when working in combination with other ships. Just one like this could change the face of a battlefield faster than a dozen Titan Legions working in coordination with one another.
It's definitely part of a major story development. It's in the same area as Vigilus, the "official" setting for Kill Team and Tooth & Claw, and an area GW looks to be trying to build up to being as iconic and important as Cadia or Armageddon.
ReplyDeleteGiven that it's right by the Nachmund Gauntlet, I can see at least a couple of ways for the storyline to proceed from here, depending on what GW wants to do. If the Imperium wins in the area, they get improved communication between the two halves of the galaxy and a shift slightly back toward the old status quo. If Abaddon wins, the Gauntlet might well be closed entirely, which could lead to all sorts of weirdness happening in the Imperium Nihilus, with almost no contact with the greater part of the Imperium. That's full on "all bets are off" territory.
My guess, based on what we know from bits of Eldar legends, is that the Blackstone Fortresses were creations of the Old Ones, who also made stuff like the Webway, so yeah, they're beyond the tech levels of anyone currently active in the galaxy. They were also built to destroy full strength C'tan, not just the puny shards we see these days.