Tag Archives: Andy Smillie

QUICK REVIEW: Of Gods and Men – Andy Smillie

Originally released as a companion piece to the audio drama Blood in the Machine, Andy Smillie’s short story Of Gods and Men is a tight, compact tale of the final moments of a crippled God-Machine and its princeps. Out in the wastes of Armageddon, the Imperator Titan Validus is dying. As his life – and that of his Titan – nears its inevitable end, Princeps Niall Cathalan muses on the nature of power, even as he desperately attempts to prevent the desecration of Validus’ corpse by the orks that brought him low.

Keep reading…

Hunger – Andy Smillie

Continuing Andy Smillie’s exploration of the Flesh Tearers Chapter of Space Marines, Hunger is an hour-long audio drama pitting Gabriel Seth and his brothers against Genestealers in the depths of a Space Hulk. As Seth leads his Honour Guard ever deeper in search of the controlling presence at the centre of the Genestealer brood, Chaplain Appollus wrestles with his own inner daemons even as he prepares to lead the Death Company into battle. Seth and the Flesh Tearers must stave off the Rage long enough to find victory, and discover just what lies at the heart of the ancient vessel.

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW: The Tau’va – Andy Smillie

Andy Smillie’s The Tau’va is a very short story that follows on from The Kauyon, this time (briefly) exploring the T’au Empire’s driving philosophy of the Greater Good. Kal’va’s actions (see the previous story) may have been performed with honour, but in seeking personal revenge he put his own desires before the Greater Good. To atone for his selfishness, he is tasked by one of the Ethereals with launching an all-out assault on a greenskin horde, spending his life in order to buy time for others to escape and survive.

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW: The Kauyon – Andy Smillie

Andy Smillie’s short story The Kauyon, originally released as an audio drama, takes its name from one of the T’au Empire’s tactical philosophies, otherwise known as the Patient Hunter. A single T’au sniper, Kal’va, stands against an entire armoured column of Imperials, desperate to seek revenge for the deaths of his bonded teammates. In order to survive long enough to succeed, Kal’va must use his wits and the advanced technology of the T’au to manipulate his enemies to exactly where he wants them. As much as his rifle and the drones he commands, patience and planning are his most important weapons.

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW: The Assassination of Gabriel Seth – Andy Smillie

With the short audio drama The Assassination of Gabriel Seth, Andy Smillie adds another piece to his slowly-growing jigsaw of Flesh Tearers stories. A distant sequel to A Son’s Burden, it returns to Nekkaris as Chapter Master Gabriel Seth comes to pay his respects to the men he left behind to die. In the quiet corridors of a shrine built to remember their sacrifice, Seth is confronted by an assassin sent by powerful enemies to remove him from the head of the Chapter, using his own rage against him.

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW: Death’s Shepherd – Andy Smillie

One of Andy Smillie’s excellent Flesh Tearers stories, Death’s Shepherd is a micro-short that’s previously been available in the Black Library Anthology 2013/14 and Trial By Blood collection before its release as a separate e-short. On the blood-soaked world of Zurcon, a Flesh Tearers chaplain leads the last remaining loyal soldiers into battle to redeem their world. Full of rage and drenched in blood, the chaplain has forged the surviving guardsmen into a weapon with violence and well-chosen words, in order to retake Zurcon for the Imperium.
Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW : Divine Will – Andy Smillie

The first story in Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar is Divine Will by Andy Smillie, a micro-short featuring a Vindicare assassin, an Inquisitor and an extremely risky trick shot. It takes place on the world of Drex, whose population has been swayed by a dangerous, heretic cult. To bring them back into line and re-instil the appropriate fear of the Emperor into them, Inquisitor Gerhart plans to make a public, visible demonstration of the Emperor’s divine will, but to do so he requires the particular skills of a master marksman.
Keep reading…

Sons of Wrath – Andy Smillie

His second novella in Black Library’s Space Marine Battles series, Sons of Wrath sees Andy Smillie continue to delve into the psyches of the brutal Flesh Tearers chapter, this time setting his story almost immediately after the events of the Horus Heresy. Still struggling to come to terms with the emotional and psychological impact of Sanguinius’ death, Chapter Master Amit and his brothers rail against their new identities as Flesh Tearers – as they vent their rage first against each other and then in battle with a tricksy foe, it remains to be seen whether the blood-thirsty Flesh Tearers are truly able to control their thirst for violence.

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW : Sins of the Father – Andy Smillie

The go-to guy for Flesh Tearers in 40k, Andy Smillie has recently turned his attention to their founding chapter, the Blood Angels, as part of the Horus Heresy series. A prequel to Virtues of the Sons (from the Death and Defiance anthology), his ‘quick read’ story Sins of the Father sees the primarch Sanguinius in a dark mood, reflecting on his future and that of his sons. He sees a bleak future for the Blood Angels, with only Azkaellon and Amit offering even a slender thread of hope.

Keep reading…

QUICK REVIEW : Herald of Sanguinius – Andy Smillie

On the eighteenth day of Christmas, Black Library gave to us…a Horus Heresy audio drama by Andy Smillie. Set amidst the turmoil of the newly-founded Imperium Secundus, Herald of Sanguinius sees Commander Azkaellon making some difficult decisions regarding the safety of his primarch, the new Emperor Sanguinius. Tensions are running high amongst the gathered Space Marines, and the future of Imperium Secundus weighs heavily upon both Sanguinius and his sons.

Keep reading…