This story picks up with a Commissar-Colonel Gaunt wondering just how soft he’s gotten. One is reminded of the opening scenes of Apocalypse Now, where Martin Sheen stares out of his window wondering he’ll get orders to leave Saigon.

Gaunt’s Ghosts are no different than any other combat veteran, an entire regiment of soldiery so tuned up and keyed to self=preservation through violence, it’s no wonder that the Ghost’s run astray.

The novel opens with a gruesome scene wherein the infiltration of the Sabbat Crusade’s HQ world is cleverly explained. I won’t give too much more detail for fear of spoiling a fun read.

I did note, however, that it was page 67 before I felt the old interest, that Abnett page-turning, pulse-pounding sci-fi pulp action returning. Aside from the Blood Pact infiltration, I honestly can’t remember what happened in those first 67 pages.

As a long time Gaunt’s Ghosts fan, I think my patience for their antics is higher than would be for a new reader. I also found myself reflecting on the characters, it feels as if most of the original Ghosts are gone now. The replacement characters have yet to become fully endeared to me and I wonder, how will this regiment end up?

Gaunt’s capture and torture in the last book were cleanly glossed over, and any residual trauma he may have had has yet to make itself known…

Of course, I don’t need to point out that Chaos Gate never actually worked. There was a patch you could download so that your Dreadnaughts and Predators could move (an essential aspect for mechanized heavy weapons).  That patch, however, never worked. I once built a PC from the ground up with the express purpose of playing Chaos Gate – still no luck. Sure, I could play, but it just never worked quite right. I’ve still got a copy of the game – I keep it in my archives hoping some day, someone will hand me a disk with the patch that actually worked on it. Then, of course, gold will fall from the sky.

Since then, Games Workshop had put forth some serious effort in the video game realm, and each time, you seem to be met with absolute failure.  I won’t pretend to know what goes into making a video game. Somehow I suspect it’s a little more than a selection of weapons and armor and bosses to hack apart at the end.

But I’ve got to ask why…

Why, for your first person shooter (Firewarrior) did you choose the Tau? Why not an Imperial Guardsman or Space Marine? The Tau? Seriously? These pruned up little Taoist, yet classist aliens with little or no involvement in the Imperium of Man whatsoever? Well, being a good monkey, I bought it the day it was released, haranguing my roommate when we lived in downtown Chicago until she drove me to my favorite GameStop. The game was fun. I felt foolish putting thirty lasrifle rounds into a guardsman, but I was just happy to be laying in the Warhammer 40,000 setting.

Then, there was Dawn of War – well done. I still play this game on occasion. I have no criticism for this game. However, that leaves me a little shocked, and worried for this next game – Space Marine. Is a third-person action slug-fest where you want to go with the Imperium’s finest warriors? And armed with a Power-hammer no less?  Personally, I’ve never wanted to play a bulldozer in any video game I’ve owned. I know, it’s too late now. I just had to get this off my chest. Good luck. I’ll buy the damned thing. Just… try not to let me down too badly.

Using an abstract rules system to explain the multitude of possibilities in a fantastical setting is a difficult, and striving for realism, while admirable, makes for a very, very uninteresting gaming session. Compounding that with firearms tends bog down each round of action with superfluous die rolling and chart checking.

When you’ve got guns, or blasters or whatever, you’ve also got rate of fire, ammo consumed and carried, as well as range, damage, damage versus materials (armor, flesh, etc.), special ammo types (exploding, magical, filled with acid or poison), reliability and a whole slew of other problems I’m purposefully neglecting to mention.

I’ve recently begun running a Dark Heresy game (from Fantasy Flight Games), based on Games Workshop’s epically popular Warhammer 40,000 setting. As with any new rules system, it takes some time to learn, sometimes to work through the errata and establish a flow with characters, skills and combat. However, Dark Heresy, an impressive book with a rather high price point, is perhaps one of the most poorly organized books I’ve seen in a long time. The core rules are spread over what feels like dozens of chapters, and the answers to simple questions lead you on a whirlwind of page flipping and index referencing (sorry – but at my age, I refuse to commit anymore RPG rules to memory, after THAC0 and Saves from AD&D 2e, I’ve had enough).

But the game – the game itself is so strong, the setting is so rich and fleshy, the expansion of the typical science fiction genre, the gothic superstition and rampant forces of chaos, the galaxy spanning quests against an invisible evil – it’s a Game Master’s dream. But for the core rules book.

Against my better judgment, I purchased a copy of Rogue Trader, the new Warhammer 40,000 game from Fantasy Flight. The price point on this beast is astounding. As I fork over my sixty kuatloos for my copy of the book, I page through it and see that much of the book is a reprint of rules from Dark Heresy. By now, I’m getting cranky, wondering who their target audience is, where the colony of 15-year olds with disposable income are coming from to purchase these products.

Then, I notice something that lightens my heart; this book is well organized. It’s not only good looking, filled with tasty fluff content, but it’s easier to understand, easier to use. The differences are subtle, but significant. I began to use Rogue Trader as my reference book immediately for my Dark heresy game, considering it the 2^nd Edition of the DH core rules. The starship rules are a spectacular addition, the new classes are great and the expanded armory and equipment guides makes players “thank the Golden Throne” for this book.

My only criticism is the republishing of core rules. White Wolf, I think, has really tapped into something with their World of Darkness core rules book. Personally, I’d rather spend the extra cash on expanded materials, and rely on one core rulebook that every player can afford.

Will Fantasy Flight Games release another core rule book for Space Marines? And another for Xenos? Why not just keep the core lean and the materials rich and flowing?