The HORUS HERESY Retrospective: From 1988 to Now

[@craiggale9654]

The Heresy, I think, started life in a similar way to the clone wars in Star Wars. A mythical historical event, mentioned once but always with more in mind

[@tdnavy1066]

Agreed

[@the_9ent]

Except the HH back-filling was so much better.

[@nutyyyy]

And much like the Clone Wars the result kinda sucked and ruined all the mystery of the setting. The Horus Heresy was supposed to be so long ago that it was unknowable. There was something clearly wrong with the Imperium but nobody remembered what it was like before, everything was framed in the religious ferver and superstition of the 41st Millenium, the past was lost in deep time, like the Iliad or the Gospels but far more ancient. It made the universe of 40k seem much deeper and broader. But once we knew it was more a case of everything being just the same. 30k is just 40k with a few minor tweaks. The Imperium in 30k is barely different to 40k. Even the name Horus Heresy was supposed to be a much later name, none at the time would have called it a Heresy. It was an ancient origin myth for the Imperium, maybe it never even happened.

[@mapleflag6518]

@@nutyyyy The clone wars wasn’t meant to be unknowable what the hell are you talking about. By your logic ESB sucked because it ruined the sense of mystery of the Empire’s full power or what the Force is like or what other planets are there.

[@JustBearly]

@@the_9ent dude what are you on? The clone wars is way more consistently good, with way less dumb moments that make no sense. On top of that, it actually sets itself apart from the first trilogy and stays consistent with the prequels

[@marinetownmick381]

I played WH40k in the early 90’s with my brother and cousin all the time. I drifted away from it in my late teens, going out, work, girlfriends and then children took me on a different path. I would however, now and then, get the box’s and miniatures out, and read the battle reports and short stories I wrote when I had played it. I have three daughters, now between the ages of 15 and 23, and Warhammer wasn’t on their radar (except the eldest who briefly showed a semblance of interest when I once got the box out. Last year we had lockdown, and I also have a three year old boy. I got the box down and he was spellbound by the miniatures. I decided I’d build him an army for when he’s slightly older. I had the time due to lockdown, and unlike when I was a teen’ I had enough spare money to buy the miniatures and paint that went with it, but I realised the game has moved on from when I played it so set about trying to catch up. I got the first Horus Heresy book and I’ve been captivated ever since. I’m currently 8 books in, but have had to divert for a little while. My wonderful wife got me some WH40K omnibus’s when she realised I’d been reading them a lot, so I’ve been reading them instead to show her my appreciation. I’m struggling though, I’m enjoying them but I want to get back to the Horus heresy series. My army (eh, my son’s army) is nearly finished and I can’t wait for him to be just about old enough to be able to play it so I can again write up the heroic deeds and awful calamities that will come to pass. Great video. Took me back to other happy memories and times.

[@noshowmen]

Honestly WH40k is an open invitation to madness and heresy, but I'm glad you guys developed it. My cousin introduced me to this world only to abandon me to my fate, because he became a father very early and decided to give me the army of orks he had at the time. 14 years later, his son plays with his friends using the miniatures i collected along the way and even uses my army of Tyramids against his peers, using Machiavellian techniques that I certainly would have liked to have played at his age. Interestingly, neither my cousin nor i plays anymore, but the generation continues. I believe the last time I played in my collection was in 2018 when my godson took down to the last piece from me haha ​​But I'm happy, I feel a little of the sweetness that age and time takes away from us. As much as we need to live with pain and micro depressions, we can find joy and genuine pleasure in the most unexpected places. As my cousin jokes with me, "I taught you that just so i don't have to pay for anything later." Hope is built every day, one step at a time. I'm sure your army (and perhaps, occasionally, your son's as well) will meet a glorious destiny.

[@marinetownmick381]

@@noshowmen my son broke two necrons last week, however I have managed to save them. He’s far to young to understand the game, but he’s become besotted with it, and he snuck some necrons out off the shelf to play with. I’m not mad though, they are for him anyway. I’ve given his a couple of miniatures to paint with me while I work on the others. They are funky. I’ve painted “badly” the first two armies and I’m now on my way through a third. A brother in law and his son have become WH40k fans now, after noticing me working on them, and another nephew who recently stayed over for a few days has now been, apparently, talking nothing else but space marines to his parents. The book reading is still going well, however the wife seems less happy with the two battlefields I’ve made, laying around the house than she was with me reading. So no new WH40k books from her for a while now. Gotta dash, the youngest needs to get ready for bed and I’ve got the last chapter of a giants ghost book to read to him for his bed time story. (He doesn’t listen anyway, just likes hearing my voice I think)

[@duedman-alleswasknallt5775]

A friend of mine gave me a few WH40K books like 15 years ago. The first book I came across was superb. Captivating. Right now I was able to easily google the names of Garviel Loken and Tarik Torgaddon just from vague memory. But then it continued with another author and became such a dissapointment. It was so bad I stopped reading these books for a long time. Only a few years ago I read Eisenhorn. Which is the reason I now know, that the aforementioned first great Horus book I read must have been by Dan Abnett.

[@db9631]

I'm sure your son can't wait to play with his Iron Warriors!

[@7isAnOddNumber]

My dad did the same for me when I was very young. He was big into Warhammer Fantasy, and got me my own Empire army (I liked the look of the guy on the front of the 8th edition army book). We went to tournaments all throughout my childhood from 6-13. I didn’t even lose all my games which made me feel awesome. I really recommend introducing your kids to this hobby, it really is a lot of fun (though do try not to go into Gorey details 😅)

[@cerocero2817]

Imagine how differently 40K would have evolved without primarchs and chaos. Or with horus having hair.

[@widdershins5383]

If he had Abaddon’s topknot haha that’s truly where the power lies hahaha

[@JohnSmith-dd8bf]

Star Trek, you would have Star Trek.

[@jeremymao3854]

OMG hahahaha

[@JohnathanJWells]

I would be up for a different manifestation of demons

[@danielbateman6518]

@@JohnSmith-dd8bf it would be dystopian star trek, kinda like the alternate reality in the DS9 series but worse.

[@jbol2454]

The final battle between Horus and the Emperor in the 1990 book "Lost and the damned" is the finest potrayal, i.e. the Emperor had nearly lost the war already and gambled to assault Horus on board his vessel, where the final showdown happened.

[@pendantblade6361]

It's wild how Primarchs became a thing so late, who knew! This was I assume the age when Marines were grunts in power armor instead of transhuman warrior monks.

[@ArbitorIan]

Yeah it's around the same time that change happened. In RT they were hypno-indoctrinated crazy criminals but a 'fortress monastery' was still shown. I think the stat change happened around early 88. And then it took most of the 90s to get them to the level of grimdark they are now!

[@cypher4783]

@@ArbitorIan I would like to point out their still hypno indoctrinated crazies. Are still my favorite bunch of fiction lunatics

[@WankerTheWetFingers]

Sounds like Starcraft marines.

[@conorkelly947]

@@WankerTheWetFingers there's a reason for that...

[@LucianCanad]

@@WankerTheWetFingers "You wanna piece o' me, boi?"

[@Inquisdrknss]

I always just assumed Horus was a concept from the beginning considering how much of the lore revolves around the Heresy.

[@Bluecho4]

It's amazing the degree to which a single after-the-fact addition to the lore of a series could grow to dominate it. To use a non-Warhammer example, over in the Green Lantern comics, the presence of multiple different colored lantern corps is a huge factor, despite being a relatively new element. (Only the -Yellow- Sinestro Corps and Star Sapphires really existed prior to Geoff Johns taking control of the franchise, and they were retroactively altered to fit the "color/emotional spectrum" angle).

[@dirkmaes3786]

I think they wouldn't call it 40K if they didn't have at least some general idea about what caused all this. It didn't had to be super in depth like the HH, but you need a reference frame to build a fantasy universe that gets continuously developed alongside the "present" world to prevent that from becoming a bunch of random bullshit.

[@willmosse3684]

It’s funny looking back, because my best pal had the original Rogue Trader 40k book back in the late 80s when we were kids, and we got really into it for a few years. I’ve recently come back to the 40K universe and am listening to the HH audiobook series (about 30 books in now). It’s good seeing this video because the focus now seems quite different to how I remembered it, but I wasn’t sure if it was just me misremembering. In the original Rogue Trader book I remember it being much more like Lord of the Rings in space, with quite a heavy Star Wars influence. The Orks were far and away the main antagonists for the humans/Space Marines, and were probably as big a part of it as the Marines. And the Space Marines were clearly an exaggerated take on the Storm Troopers from Star Wars. And the 40K Emperor was also an exaggerated version of the Emperor from Star Wars (who was yet to be called Palpatine or Sideos). The Eldar were space Elves, and the squats (dwarves) were a lot more prominent - in fact I don’t know if they exist in it any more at all. I then got that first Realm of Chaos book he mentioned in the video which introduced the Chaos gods Khorne and Slaanesh, and then a year or so later the second Realm of Chaos book which introduced Nurgle and Tzeench came out. And the monthly White Dwarf magazine introduced more and more chaos into the 40K universe, but I don’t remember anything about Horus or primarchs, and it still seemed to me like basically Lord of the Rings in space with this new chaos element added. But I was very into LoTR, so maybe saw it more through that lens. Interesting to see this guy confirm the changes, in part at least. It’s still very obviously the same thing, but also quite different.

[@jonathanvogt4341]

@@willmosse3684 the fact that the setting can evolve to and from is awesome in and of itself, if we haven't killed ourselves off as a species in 20 to 30 years it would be interesting to see how it has changed.

[@willmosse3684]

@@jonathanvogt4341 - yeah, it’s fascinating seeing it from when i was 10 years old to 40. Will be amazing to see what it is when I’m 70…

[@MasterShake9000]

Regarding your questioning of whether the Horus Heresy was truly an invention to explain Epic using the same Titans for both forces or not, there’s two anecdotes that seem relevant here. The first is from IIRC a RP interview that an Oldhammer blog did a long time ago. Basically, the inquisition was never meant to exist in 40k. When 40k started, it had a very tight budget and limited production slots. This meant RP had to get creative about using the full GW range and using minis he otherwise wouldn’t have used. Fex, the 40k races are largely what they are because it allowed for reusing WHFB Orcs, Elves, etc with a few weapon swaps as Space Orks, Eldar Exodites, etc. Originally, only Marines were meant to have power armour, but the sculptors created minis that had PA but didn’t really fit RP’s criteria for Marines for one reason or another. He couldn’t really “afford” to not use them, since he couldn’t directly replace them with another sculpt, so they’d still get used. In some cases, they stayed Marines. Examples would be some of the early Marines with more fantasy style leg armour or with alien weapons. But some went too far, such as minis with super weird helmets or one particular meant-to-be Terminator covered in esoteric runes. These became the first Inquisition models, and are why the early lore was somewhat contradictory on stating that the Marines’ black carapace was required to use PA, yet non-Marine models clearly had PA (which they eventually resolved by saying the carapace is required only for getting the armour’s full potential). ANYHOO, I bring that up because Rogue Trader makes extensive use of 2000 AD comics for its aesthetic, as you know. Judge Dredd is the most infamous, but by far not the only one. ABC Warriors features a robot soldier that worships a “Khaos” religion. Nemesis the Warlock is about a fascist earth renamed Termite, where the Grand Inquisitor and his Terminators hunt down a rogue psychic alien - it’s also where the Marine tactical squad symbol (upward arrow) comes from (in the comic it’s a reoccurring background graffiti of a stylized atomic mushroom cloud indicating radioactive danger). And in Rogue Trooper, the drama centers on a Traitor General who betrays his genetically-enhanced super soldiers at what is literally known in the comic as the “dropsite massacre”. Point being - it seems highly plausible to me that what happened is that when Epic was developed and they realized the conundrum of using duplicate forces in the starter set, they did what they had always done (like with the Inquisitor minis) and borrowed whatever concepts could get them by. Rick Priestley in the interview seemed to imply he hadn’t wanted much, for lack of a better term, “Christian” influence on the setting. So it’s likely the original Inquisition was meant to simply be a Nemesis the Warlock rip-off (ie basic fascists in space hunting aliens) without the medieval Christian themes of faith and heresy and the related Sisters of Battle aesthetics that came later. And similarly, it would have been five minutes of work to simply adapt Rogue Trooper’s “Traitor General” concept to the barebones RT background to hand wave why the Epic starter set contained identical-looking forces. None of this is meant to imply that what GW did was rubbish or any less creative or unique or interesting. I just think modern gamers don’t know or don’t appreciate how “seat of the pants” early GW was when it came to the creation and expansion of the 40k universe and product line. GW originally assumed RT had a good chance of failure due to it not being a historicals or fantasy-based game. It’s why RP was forced to essentially develop RT as a re-skinned WHFB/WHFRP system with the same races, and why the original beakies were partially based on what was then GW’s best-selling range (WHFB Chaos Warriors - this is from the GW deposition in the Chapterhouse Studios lawsuit, btw). I suspect Rick Priestley’s initial wish to avoid Chaos in 40k was likely due to wanting to avoid the at-the-time growing “satanic panic” controversy in the US and elsewhere over Dungeons and Dragons by not having any sort of fake religion in the 40k setting. Ironically, the setting would ultimately be defined as a universe almost primarily defined by its two main fake religions of the God-Emperor and the Ruinous Powers.

[@gregoryspatisserie9858]

Thanks for sharing that , very interesting.

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Very interesting information!

[@fredEVOIX]

and just like rulebooks and older magazines which I have pretty much all read since rogue trader..your comment was BETTER than the actual horus heresy books what a disappointement, they should add a new chaos god the one of void and boredom

[@FGS-yk3vc]

It's what I like about 40k The setting is so big that any retcons or out dated lore can ve explained away by saying no one has all the right answers and some are suppressed by institutions like the inquisition

[@gordonkerry9320]

And warp is a thing. Time can get streched.

[@marcwittkowski5146]

"Everything is canon, not everything is true."

[@dr.feelgoodmalusphillips2475]

It still is a bullshit way to just push the criticism under the rug though.

[@NicholasBrakespear]

The main problem though is GW's more recent retcons - they've been too specific and too certain. Used to be that everything, including the Emperor's own story, was kinda half-forgotten myth, and left to the imagination. Now, GW have explained away everything, including the origin of all the major species, and events that took place millions of years before mankind existed. They've explained away all the mystery and mythology.

[@mr.pavone9719]

@@NicholasBrakespear "kinda half forgotten myth and left to the imagination" was always the spirit of WH40K:RT and it's laid out in the introductory blurb. They promised us a set of rules with general details but plenty of sci-fantasy tropes and an endless universe to play in. They did a pretty good job at first but it's been getting away from that free wheeling spirit for a while now.

[@RaptorShadow]

Your look back into the origin of these well known parts of 40k lore is just an absolute joy to watch!

[@ArbitorIan]

Thanks!

[@spaceman9599]

Indeed. Lore gold! Well done Ian

[@Dustbinlid1]

Am I only one that truely loves the irony of having a edition of White Dwarf up as a poster that says "FREE GIANT POSTER INSIDE"

[@heresyinsider]

These kind of retrospectives are like a comfy blanket for me. Good job. Hoping for a chaos dwarf retrospective

[@CrimsonTemplar2]

Great retrospective. Like a lot of 40K lore, things have successively evolved.

[@widdershins5383]

Good, everything should evolve because anything static is left behind

[@jonathanvogt4341]

@@widdershins5383 i literally just commented on another place about how in 20 to 30 years it would be interesting to see how it has changed

[@Leinad44]

I love seeing how the lore has evolved overtime.

[@angus6858]

Probably because Games Workshop and the original team kept things extremely general and vague, so that the games and eventual lore building wasn't squeezed and kneecapped early on

[@samcashc]

Really enjoy this type of content looking back on the development of these stories. As much as I enjoy reading wikis and nitpicking lore, it often ends up feeling pointless; not really getting context as to when and why such and such species or confrontation was imagined or fleshed out. Can't wait for the next video!

[@Delveintohobby]

13:37 such a legendary piece of art, I remember poring over all the details when I got into the lore about 10 years ago.

[@NicholasBrakespear]

Discovering 40k in my teens, this uncertainty was something I loved - I first heard the story of the Emperor and the golden thrown from a friend who was heavily into 40k. Because I heard it second-hand, it had already evolved into a chinese whispers of mythology, which somehow made it seem more real; that I learned the story the way people in the 40k universe would learn the story.

[@danielmoreira1802]

I've watched a few of your vids now, and though I'll never play or collect, the lore, story is so dense, old and detailed it has me intrigued! As someone very new to this, your videos are great!

[@Dustbinlid1]

It's rare that YT recommends something on a channel I've never heard of and I end up thinking "damn, where have you been all this time"....this is one of those time. Awesome

[@widdershins5383]

It’s a black hole of entertainment lol you don’t even need to play the table top, there’s enough other video games and books to cover it all lol not to mention all the fan made stuff on KZbin that’s amazing

[@JudgeENZA]

Yep this just happened to me

[@NailBombEnjoyer]

As someone who's never really got into the series loads but has collected Orks and space marines with my dad when I was younger, this is really enjoyable to watch and makes 40K a lot more accessible to others who are interested, these videos obviously take a lot of time to make and I'm glad it isn't going unnoticed.

[@jackstarro9100]

Did you ever do the follow-up video you mentioned about the history of the art direction in Heresy? Would LOVE to see that!

[@Furri1bia]

This is exactly why I love this channel. Just amazing.

[@Ny-kelCameron]

Thank you, thank you!! I've been asking other WH40k 'lore' channels this for months now, with most not replying or having no idea or clue about it. I have clarity now.

[@nickjohnstone14]

Great summary. I've been trying to understand the hobby again after almost three decades away. This explains how it's evolved and how to make sense of the dozens of products released since I stopped playing.

[@JamesRansom]

This was epic. Amazing job. Brought me back to my childhood as I grew up watching this story develop into what it has become today.

[@mikedangerdoes]

As a person who has only ever drifted in and out of interest with Warhammer (in all its forms) its very interesting to see the evolution of the brand.

[@thefenrisianssweatshop]

Now this is one of the very few reasons I'm actually happy im as old as I am. Many of you watching this are getting this as a condensed few minutes of a sort of history lesson. Its been my distinct pleasure to watch evolve over my life span so far.

[@aoclive6710]

I was into this in 2002-2005. Very little information was available. Internet wasn’t accessible yet . Glad I can revisit this story

[@VoxFelis]

Honestly. This is one of the best lore videos I've ever seen. Really deserves more viewers.

[@simonphelon7221]

I kind of dropped out of the hobby back in 1991, I wish I'd kept my old models. I was rather confused when I got back into it about 2015. Everything was familiar enough that I just thought I'd just forgotten all the details. I've still got Adeptus Titanicus - it's still a great game.

[@wesbrown3831]

Ian, you are a walking talking encyclopedia. The way you seamlessly tie in everything from modules, storyline, art and multiple types of games(ccg, wargames,etc...) and books to create an accurate briefing, is amazing. You have made it easier for this American to become more immersed in such a wonderful British treasure. Thank you!!!

[@stevedowning3892]

So many memories seeing the art from that time period!

[@davidrichardson6900]

Genuinely one of the most interesting 40k videos I’ve watched in a while. I’d love to know the real world stories of the creation of the legions and primarchs. Would be so interesting to know which order they were thought up in, and whether any were created to round out the numbers!

[@Tatsumaruishida]

Old School, old 40k player right here, I started back in 94' and I've just had my mind blown that story of the Eisenstein dates all the way back to the 1988!

[@ReverendMeat51]

I recently started into the HH novels, halfway through Book 5 Fulgrim rn, the algorithm gods blessed me today because I was wondering where the framework actually came from. Subbed

[@bruhb7611]

Can’t wait to see a retrospective on the tyranids on how they changed from the older xenomorph looking monsters to the bug swarm of today.

[@77tacko]

I think the first outing for the Tyranids was Advanced Space Crusade. Think Space Hulk in a Tyranid Hive Ship; where instead of Terminators you faced the hoard down with….checks notes…Space Marine Scouts!?! (Their first outing also I think.) It wasn’t very good.

[@PKM9107]

Just found your channel a few days ago and I gotta say I’m loving it so far. I really like how you go over not just in universe lore but real world lore and how things have changed over time. Showing your face makes things a lot more personable and relatable as well! As someone born in 1999 that’s still pretty new to Warhammer(Making my way through the Horus Heresy and hundreds of lore KZbin videos right now) I gotta say I’m loving your channel. Can’t wait to see what the future holds for you!

[@Stimm002]

When I first got into 40k, the primarks, were literally myths. There was almost nothing written about them and what there was, was written in a way that implied they were legends and obscure ones at that. Nothing was "known" about them in universe and in real life. It was so intriguing.

[@Tommytakanawa]

Primarchs*

[@ZEK.0]

Can’t believe I’ve only just found out about this channel! I love it! Keep up the good work!

[@ArbitorIan]

Thanks!

[@Sebuin]

Thanks for the content. Some of the best days of my life were when me and my friends got the original Rogue Trader book and started playing in the back of the game shop in the basement of the mall. It was a teenage wonderland. Slice of pizza at the pizza place. Go to Burger King and if you buy a drink they don't mind if you come back for free refills all day. A small cozy game shop with all the newest Games Workship minis. I loved dwarves. One of my first buys was Bugman's Dwarf Rangers. The first one not the generic second run. The one where Bugman was the gnarly one legged mini out for revenge. But then along came Rogue Trader. We fell in love. Squats for me of course. It was Rogue Trader you could make up whatever your points were. Mine were Squat and Eldar mercenaries. When you had to get the new stuff from White Dwarf which then made up the Compendium. I once won a miniature tournament of 1000 points with my Squat kamikaze trooper who had only a jet pack, bolt pistol and a vortex grenade. One guy blue all his points on a daeman, Slaanesh or Tzeentch, I can't remember hell I'm 50. He spent 500 points on it and had wiped out everyone else and I had held back the whole time kind of letting them fight and playing the edges. My guy jumps in on his daemon, pulls the pin and that guy was whininnnnnng. He just watched what he thought was his 500 point ace in the hole go poof. I of course had a huge chance of failure, but my role was true and The 404th Tipsy Groundhogs were the victors that humble day. When they ditched Squats I quit. You have to try to go back and and just look at Rogue Trader, The Astronomican, the chaos book and the White Dwarfs of the time and you get these hints of what was before. It's all so wicked and mystical. With all the religious overtones and the military notes. All the whispers of the past tickling our brains into what we'd play. What their historys were. My buddy was a phenomenal painter so we were all decent learning from him. His stuff would win contensts all the time. He loved the Eldar and when the Harlequins came out he was in love. His paint jobs and the details were incredible. I mean he'd be one of the first back then and no one will ever know that he had stuff better than in White Dwarf. Just some freshman in college from Indiana. Well man these are cool. Doubt you'll see this but figured I'd post anyhow. Thanks for the walks down memory lane.

[@mdsf01]

So happy to have discovered this channel. I played W40K tabletop back in the early 90s but then life got in the way and stopped. Aside from the occasional computer game I had drifted from the 40K. Luckily back around 2010 I discovered the Horus Heresy books where such a rich tapestry is woven. Thoroughly enjoying this epic series. The Horus Heresy, the worst thing to happen to the Imperium, the best thing to happen to fans. :) Wonderful overview... more please!

[@catfish552]

Fantastic! This is a perspective on 40k I've been missing. You always hear about how the lore evolved over time, but it can be difficult to retrace those changes in hindsight.

[@Tacsponge]

Thanks! I've always struggled to find info on the real world history of the game! Enjoyed this and your badab video. Hope to see more

[@ForelliBoy]

ngl the Golden Throne as a Gigeresque suction toilet (get it, throne?) makes a LOT more sense

[@duncanself5111]

Fascinating video mate! All the old artwork takes me back to my childhood and thumbing through my brothers' White Dwarf magazines and my imagination racing at all the epic imagery. I'm now I'm a big fan of the lore as an "adult"

[@matthinton19]

Omg i remmeber the old horus heresy card games. Went camping with my parents and brother and we both got a deck of cards

[@michaelhowell2326]

Dude, such awesome stuff. I'm really intrigued be all this. I've been getting my 40K on for over 20 years but this is the best summary of the early years I've come across.

[@turnipslop3822]

This type of video is fascinating. There are many videos explaining what the Horus Heresy is now, but none explaining how it came to be. This honestly helped clear up a lot of the confusion with different sources saying different things. Great research and amazing presentation. Looking forward to the next video!

[@joperhop]

I have wanted a video, or something that explains how the horus heresy grew in lore, all i ever found was horus heresy lore and not its changes since the 80s, and by the Allfather this is perfect! have a sub for your saga telling!

[@6Stevo]

Nice nostalgic trip down memory lane. It's interesting how much of the core story is very much the same as those early bits of lore.

[@MasterofMistakes]

Loved the detail sad you did not mention(like from "Codex Compliant") that Horus had more hair in the 80's, will always make me laugh!

[@Arctik39]

Brilliant video, keep up the great work! I really like putting a face to a 40K lore channel opposed to just seeing imagery. Very refreshing!

[@geddysciple]

As someone fairly new to the franchise, having this presented as publication history provides a lot of clarity. A lot of other lore videos are really well done, but focus on presenting the current polished narrative. You've done a terrific job here of weaving internal narrative with real world publication history to help make sense of the jumble!

[@jordanmiles2252]

Love your narration my dude

[@harrisonyee671]

As a player who last played 2nd edition, I really appreciate your videos. It's great seeing how much the game has evolved

[@clanpsi]

It still blows my mind that GW hasn't made a Horus Heresy movie trilogy yet. Film 1: The unification of Terra, the Crusade and finding the sons, culminating with the war against The Beast. Film 2: The fall of Horus, culminating in The Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V. Film 3: Brother vs. Brother, Son vs. Father, and aftermath.

[@mensrea1974]

I started playing Adeptus Titanicus around 1990 and moved into WHFB first then into 40K with 2nd and 3rd edition. This video is amazing. I had forgotten about so many of these books and WD issues that I'm now going to have to dig out of storage...

[@Farglator]

I had always wondered what the Horus Heresy had looked like before the novels came into being and really fleshed things out. So thanks very much for answering this question for me. :-) As always, awesome video. Already looking forward to the next one!

[@TheNAWorks]

hey thanks for making this video. it’s really useful to understand things as they developed over time with different releases in the warhammer brand

[@kabnoot]

Its crazy to me that the horus heresy story is like the Bible of 40k. A story 10 thousand years old. Mythical sounding yet based in truth. I can't imagine the horrors one would see during the siege of the imperial palace.

[@cookie2000ad]

So there I was a few weeks ago, watching some KZbin video about the Horus Heresy, and suddenly remembered some cardboard punch-out board game about Horus and his battle barge I got with White Dwarf when I was in my early teens, and thought wait, was all this stuff there from the start? And here you are answering my question, other questions I didn't even know I had, and reminding me of the name of the game! Thank you so much, what an awesome summary.

[@ArbitorIan]

Thanks! Gary (from my Tale of Four Gamers series) found an intact copy of that WD on ebay so we might do a play through in the next few weeks!

[@kennethhancox4646]

Very well laid out timelines and information on hh. Thanks for confirming the longevity of the heresy. 24 books in now after a break for a few years. Hoping to finish in the near future

[@stevenesbitt3528]

I have loved Sci fi for years, this story is incredible, by far and away the best series of books in a Sci fi setting I have ever Read.

[@Moffen9T]

Seeing you lay out the almost organic growth of the Heresy like this was really nice! Coming from someone whose first step into 40k was the Dawn of War games, followed by the Horus Heresy novels, it gave me a better appreciation for the constraints that the writers were working with. Also, this video might have been the only time I've reacted positively to the appearance of Lord Commander Eidolon. And you're right about Legion being one of (if not) the best Heresy novel.

[@buickchaser]

This is incredibly informative, succinct, and extremely well done. Thank you

[@1Korlash]

That was fantastic stuff. It's crazy to think how much the Horus Heresy has grown in prevalence over the past twenty years.

[@iESCAP1SM]

I’ll always remember Fulgrim as one of my favorite HH books. The setting, characters and slow spread of corruption was so well depicted and made for a really good read. It’s the one I would recommend if I only got to vouch for the one.

[@Mugdorna]

I was first introduced to 40K in the late 1993. Heady days. (maybe White Dwarf 180-190?) Stopped playing about 15 years ago, Stopped painting about 12 years ago. Stopped collecting about 8 years ago. All 3 are separate but connected hobbies!! The 30 year "Imperial marine" was the last thing I bought. Really liked this recap. I have read all 50+ of the Horus Heresy books. Taking my time to tackle the "Siege of Terra" ones.

[@cantstraferight]

Just want to say that after having a look through your channel and watching a few videos you are possibly my favorite new channel.

[@ArbitorIan]

Thanks!

[@Janovich]

Man that was great. Thanks for sharing

[@simonszymanski1853]

Wow! This is such a great summary of a really interesting topic. Great work!

[@livingthedream0527]

This video was amazing, really engaging too. I respect anyone who actually cares about looking into art direction so keen to see that.

[@russellg5022]

Having seen this, I find it easier to forgive recent retcons...

[@thepinne1]

Gonna be honest. Clicked on the video in the hope to get a somewhat coherent summary of the Black Library books. However, your way of speaking and introducing new elements made me stay to watch a summary on the lore behind a board game that I have never had any interest in. Well done!

[@userb3nje909]

Facinating to think that a lot of the events of the HH where planned way back in the early days. I never knew this. Great vid! Thanks for doing the research!

[@getting2hired]

Love the detail and background of how the narrative was built out!

[@JamesSmith-gj2ho]

Love your work pal! A video on art direction and the way it's evolved would be amazing. Keep up the good work, it's so nice to see a historical approach to the evolution of the setting.

[@slimtim84]

@ArbitorIan thank you so much for making these lore videos. I'm just getting into WH40K lore and I've been binge watching your videos.

[@Randomtask47]

Just recently discovered your channel, and it's fantastic! Very cool to see the evolution of the Heresy both in and out of fiction. Looking forward to whatever you cover next!

[@YvesSMASH]

This was awesome! Really love your pacing, attention to detail and educated speculation.

[@AW-wf2dx]

I enjoy your approach to publication history, and hope you keep this bibliographic focus moving forward. Subbed.

[@SleeplessRonin]

By the Emperor... I've been playing since 2E and I'm learning new stuff from these videos!

[@britinmadrid]

High quality and accessible breakdown - cheers!

[@brennanneaton3062]

This is amazing! I’ve always wondered if the lore was at least partially established when warhammer first came out. Subbed!

[@DavidLantz88]

Currently reading Black Legion. It's so good. Definitely worth a read. Ian this would be a great pick for your book series.

[@jackneighbour7605]

Fantastic documentary style retrospective. Kudos on the research!

[@dornfist3913]

Thank you for the video @Arbitor Ian! I only knew about the Heresy from some codexes and the novel series. I only recently discovered the old White Dwarf articles haha. Man it is so nice to take a trip through history to see how stuff was like before.

[@GothamAmbService]

Incredible video

[@marcwittkowski5146]

Fascinating stuff, presented in a really great video. Thanks!

[@minipaintingforyou]

Researching this must have been a huge time sink. Thank you for sharing.

[@shamuschannel682]

I just am kinda discovering warhammer 40k, your videos are freaking fascinating. I am absolutely astounded at the vastness of all of this…… reslly incredible. I can’t help thinking it would make the most incredible MMO game - if there was ever a company able to do it justice .

[@jamesfarrell2097]

Really keen to see your art direction video after watching this one!

[@brycepigeon4508]

I have read many of the HH books, and never knew how much of it sprang directly from the older sources. Brilliant video. Also, I’m wondering how much of “Eye of Terra” vs “Eye of Terror,” which I’ve always thought as clever wordplay, is the same as Led Zeppelin’s “Dyer Maker” as a play on words of “Jamaica” in a British accent (since Games Workshop is a UK-based company!)

[@NikHem343]

I have literally no idea about WH40K, but I enjoy these videos THOROUGHLY

[@3DPrintingRockets]

YES I WANT A VIDEO ABOUT THE ART. I love every piece of it and a deep dive will be nuts

[@theezekarion164]

Man this is really good i hope u do all of it soon?

[@AlternicityBlogspot]

Great video, I will share this with my sons.

[@YingTongIddleEyePo]

Just stumbled across this, excellent video. Don't play the game myself but have read the entire Heresy so far (and now working my way through the new post 9th ed books) really interesting to see the real world history of how it came together.

[@nigelagilebear]

For me (as someone who stopped gaming 25 years ago) the 2 page fluff story from Lost and the Damned of Horus vs Emperor is the definitive tale and all that was needed.

[@valtsu5752]

Amazing. Keep up the great work.

[@redpillow7221]

This makes me nostalgic for the 40k of old. I miss those black and white illustrations. I miss when the game had that charm. I still like it, but there's something missing now.

[@tinyfishhobby3138]

Really fantastic overview of the Heresy. You filled in a lot of gaps that I wasn’t aware of. I’d played chaos space marines in 2nd and part of 3rd edition, and of course started reading the Black Library novels when they were published. For me it wasn’t until Betrayal at Calth released as a more affordable way to collect my beloved Alpha Legion that I was able to fully dive into playing 30k on the tabletop as well. I love reading back through those older codexes and Index Astartes articles and seeing what parts already existed way back then and which ones inspired later portions of the story.