Two Minutes to Midnight?

For as long as I have played 40k (and I started back in the Rogue Trader era, so that's s LOOOONG time), the clock has been set at two minutes to midnight, figuratively speaking. The story has not advanced at all. The Old Man is still sat on his throne, the tendrils of the Tyranid Hive Fleets are still a marauding threat at the edges of Humanity's borders and the other alien races are still pottering about. Chaos is... there, but not really a dynamic threat. Sure, the story has been fluffed out over the years with various stories and backgrounds in the codices, but most of these have been carefully constructed cul-de-sacs where nothing actually changes the course of the story.

So, what's changed? Well, the build-up to the Death Masque box set hinted toward an update in our favourite grim-dark storyline, and then today - BAM! - this image appeared on GW's own Facebook page, telling us in no uncertain terms that the storyline will be advancing toward 40k's very own version of the End Times, and personally I am cautiously very excited! 

For over twenty-five years I have stoically stayed loyal to 40k, never straying to any other sci-fi or fantasy setting. True, I tried Flames of War for a short while, but that was really more an extension of my interest in military history (and personal history, given my grandparents' direct involvement). I have also recently gotten heavily into 30k, which I really see as 40k's 'creation myth' if you will (a bit like the Silmarillion' is for the Lord of the Rings books). 

So part of me is a little scared that the bedrock of my favourite Sci-fi game is changing. Who will be killed off? Who will return? Will the game I love still be the game I love after all the upheaval? 

Probably, yes. Things are rarely as radical as your mind imagines. So, whilst I nervously await the changes, I'm also massively excited to see how our story progresses! 

30k Space Wolves

Just a quick post to say that the Claws & Fists blog hasn't completely disappeared!

Recently I have been playing a lot of 30k, with this Space Wolves army: