The story centers around a captain in the Luna Wolves Space Marines legion, Garviel Loken, who commands the 10th company. He is a rising star and becomes close to Horus, it is through his eyes that we see most of the plot unfold. The other main characters are also captains in the Luna Wolves, with Horus as the leader of the Luna Wolves and in charge of all Space Marine (and support) legions across the galaxy.

Plot Lines
The main plot long, as I said, follows Garviel, however other lines branch off of his. Three key journalists (Rembrancers) are followed after they're introduced, as well as a Chaplain from one legion, and Horus. These weave together as the one tries to figure the others out. In addition the start of the religion of the Emperor is described, which I'm finding fascinating reading. Between the books these are perfectly tied together, as the books are written one after the other, and the authors styles don't differentiate much. The plot unravels first with the reader hating Horus (if you knew the story ahead of time) then loving him as his men do, then back to hating him, b ut recognizing him for the tragic hero he is.

Recurring Themes
There are definite themes in this book that are in our society today, themes that present both sides of the argument in a very well articulated way. Maybe I'm just weird, but it was obvious that this was written after the Iraq war started, because many of these are things that keep coming up in the news. For instance:

At the start of the first book many journalists (to use the best term that comes to mind, for it also includes photographers, poets, painters, etc) are embedded in the fleet. The Space Marines argue if they should be there, or if they're wasted space. These disagreements between them then get into freedom of speech, if the journalists should be able to lambaste the Space Marines, whose ship they're on, when the Space Marines are responsible for the journalist's very survival. Finally these civilians end up getting in the way, and a few are killed for being in the wrong place. The collateral damage that comes out of this is a very interesting argument about civilian casualties in a time of war. As events unfold, the civilians eventually are forced to keep in their rooms, and some are killed to prevent them from writing of atrocities they saw. There is a strong 1984 feel to the story from the civilians angle, and it echoes the rise of many of the world's dictators. Gain power, gain trust, quietly kill off the dissenting opinions until its too late.

Each legion has its own feel for combat, some specializing in prefect execution of maneuvers, others just brutal slaughter. As the Great Crusade has gone on, the people at home no longer feel the threat of alien attack, and as such now turn their eyes to making the Space Marines fight a clean war. The people want the Crusade, but don't want to see the carnage. This puts the Space Marines in the position of fighting as they always have and winning (for 200 years!) or somehow changing and not being themselves.

Honor is very strong in this story, the honor of upholding one's leader, one's nation, and one's fellow man. This comes to bear when Garviel is forced to choose between what he swore to uphold (his Emperor, and mankind) and those he's sworn to stand by, his battle-brothers. This is something we could all take a lesson from today, for it seems as if people's word isn't their bond anymore. Besides that, people are afraid to support their country if it errs. I'm not saying things should be overlooked, I'm saying its your country, support it (this isn't just America, this is any country. If you're British, support Britain, she's your motherland, same goes for France, or Russia). Many times in the first three books do people have to try to determine what's best for them (in some cases their life is on the line) and what they have sworn to stand for. Others have to choose what's the best path for those oaths, not all make the "right" choice.

On the other hand, a lot of those choices stem from faith. It is really, really interesting to me that the Great Crusade is preaching "Imperial Truth", which amounts to Atheism. The 'dangerous cults' that worship 'gods' being things that are to be feared, and crushed. What makes this interesting is in the 41st millennium the Emperor is worshiped, so obviously something changes. At the start they kill any who believe in anything that can't be seen or touched, and in the end they kill anything that refuses to believe in the Emperor, which i think sums humanity up perfectly. Its not religions that make us kill each other, its differences. That point is made abundantly clear in these texts, where it is an unthinkable question to ask why they don't leave some poor society alone if it won't interact with humanity.

Speaking of humanity, the books (and 40k universe) also touch on human nature with their descriptions of the leaders of each legion, the primarchs. Each primarch is physically above all humans, even above all Space Marines, their bodies perfect. Yet their minds are described as flawed, some primarchs being too defensive, some having severe blood-lust, and it is clear that Horus is too ambitious. These are traits that can be seen in the Marines that are in their legions (I won't get into how they get there... that's too in depth), for they exhibit the same behaviors, pride, lust, or honor.

Real Literature
Some of you are still reading (heck some probably stopped after you saw 'Warhammer') but thinking "This is just drivel, its fluff for some dumb game, and matters naught." You couldn't be more wrong. For instance, Horus is the perfect tragic hero, as laid out by Aristotle. To be a tragic hero one must:

• Be noble
• Have a flaw
• Have an undoing
• Discover it was brought about by his own actions

Well, Horus is clearly noble, having been bred to be a perfect human being, and second in charge of humanity. His major flaws are pride, and ambition, clearly stated in the book through his actions when his honor is impugned or his reveling in being named the Warmaster of the Great Crusade. His undoing occurs in the story when he is goaded into action that is designed to kill him. Actually it merely mortally wounds him, and that starts the turn of events leading to humanity's downfall. I'd prefer not to write an essay on this, so you'll have to trust me when I say this is good literature. Great style, and decent imagery.

In addition to that, the character development that happens in response to the recurring themes is great. Some characters rise to the occasion, standing firm in their convictions, others turn their back on their oaths to gain power. Others you can't tell where they stand until something hits the fan. Simply astounding.

Summation
In the end this series (as I've read so far) can be summed up as a tragedy, and a good commentary on the human soul. The men that have physical perfection get yet more ambitious, instead of humble, and are able to be manipulated by other, darker humans, among various demons. If Horus wasn't prideful, or if he wasn't quite so ambitious, maybe none of this would have come to pass. You must read this series, don't take it as "Oh, 40k fluff, its unimportant" but see it for what it is. Great literature, masterfully tied together, with excellent development of both plot and characters. I literally can't put it down. As I write this, I'm still reading book 3 in the series.

Some History
The domain was registered while taking one of my patented Long Thanksgiving Breaks. That was ThanksGaming 2005, and I grabbed the domain one night while talking to that coder I always mention, Malaprop of Cambrian House. Malaprop kindly put the domain on his site, installed WordPress, and away I went. My first actual post (I believe) was on the 20th of 2005, but it was accidentally deleted, so the first surviving post is from the 21st.

Some Stats
Over the past year, I've had (what I consider seeing as its just another random blog in the Internet where a new one opens every second) to be some pretty nice stats.

• Over 20,000 page hits
• Over 10,000 "users" you can figure out how Stattraq defines a user
• Two search engines that have over 100% of my website indexed! (Again, you can go figure out how they have more pages indexed than I have pages).
• Two pages selected by spambots for spam! They think I'm populart (I guess) and spam half-year old posts to sell viagra! An annoyance I took care of by using Akismet

Of course, the above ignores such fun ones as 100 posts means roughly one post every 3-4 days.

Big posts
I believe I created the blog to talk about the Sony BMG Fiasco. This was my first serious post, and it got some decent reads by a variety of people. Unfortunately for the world, this has pretty much blown over in a year. Heck, it had blown over within 6 months. What a shame a company got away with this when non-malicious citizens are thrown into court for downloading one song to the tune of $2,000. Had Sony gotten such treatment, it would be out of business (I refer to the fact that Sony included source code that was licensed. In addition they took it from a man whom the music industry tried to have thrown in jail.)

The next significant thing I talk about was my beliefs with regards to software, and the fact that I buy into a communist view of software. I tied this in with one of my favorite pieces of code, Linux.

I had a run in with the law last Spring that was kind of interesting. I'll leave it up to you to decide what to make of the encounter. The three ways I tried to write it here just... made Law Enforcement seem incompetent, and I don't want to say that.

While I may the only one laughing about it, I think I came up with a good argument in favor of single geeks on Inyragvarf Day.

Then we saw a public official fly off the handle when presented with a problem he didn't know. Great lesson to be learned about politicians and technical stuff. I rather dislike politicians so won't be going downt hat road, however.

One of my favorite posts was how to legally and ethically hack your GPA. This might also be the one I'm most torn about, as I get tons of hits from search engines with kids looking to actually hack their GPA. Meaning, maliciously break into a grade server, and screw with stuff they don't own. My idea is a lot more elegant, and completely legal. Which is why I enjoy it.

Wrap Up
It occurs to me this post is rambling and self serving... Plus I'm running out of time for posting right at midnight. So, I will end it now. You can browse back through my posts and see if there's anything decent. I'd like to wrap up b y reiterating my purpose of this blog. That is, simply put, to generate thoughtful discussion (or just thought on your own) and get people to thank more about the world around them. View everything from a different perspective, because that's how you find holes in a system. It may be that some of what I post is controversial. I may accidentally post something that's considered "illegal" by some form of law. Anything up here is not meant maliciously, and is purely for the sake of expanding the minds of my generation.

It's been a fun year for me, hopefully I've kept you (whomever my readers are... [Ok, i can see IPs... so I know who you are]) interested, and made you think a little more about some subject, I don't care what. See you next year.

• Battlefield 2, both 2 v 3, and with bots.
• Rune. Imagine a Viking first person slasher
• Dawn of War, a Warhammer 40,000 RTS.
• Counter-Strike Source
• World of Warcraft. Got a free guild, read on.
• Quake II, I had som weird problems in this game, which led to LOTS of TKs. As in, I'd slide a bunch, and keys would stick on. So, my hyperblaster would fire until out of ammo. And I'd be stuck in one place. Fun times.
• E.V.O. on an emulator.

'Twas much fun. The BF2 was at first straight up 2v3. Then we played it as Sniper Wars. Only kit allowed is the Sniper, and it gets really fun with as many people as bases. (Camp the base, wait for someone to try to cap, head shot). Quite realistic, in my opinion, never know where someone's hiding.

In World of Warcraft, a friend and I started new characters on this one server. Some guy jumped on general chat, and said he wanted to give up his guild. I offered him nothing for it, and he accepted. So, we had a night full of guild raids utilizing the entire guild! (Naturally, I had kicked out everyone who wasn't me or Casey).

Rune, in my opinion, was the best "LAN" game we played all weekend. It was simple, easy to understand, and yielded many shouted curses and death threats, as well as frantic running after throwing the final weapon, hoping to find someone to kill the person chasing you. Fun game, you should check it out.

To see some of the set up, check out this picture. Note me pondering my next move... I'm in the upper left, you can see two close friends in the upper right, and lower right. My system is in front of me, my laptop is facing the camera, next to it. The monitor facing the camera next to the laptop is mine as well. My roommate's system is set up on the bar. Not a bad amount of floor space taken up by 5 systems, two good speaker systems (could literally feel the progressive metal in the floor of the porch outside from mine).

If I missed anything, post it into the comments.

Captain Mughayib
When Captain Mughayib of the Angels Vermilion lost the Battle of Majzir, he did so with unacceptable losses. The entire 5th company was wiped out, and his orders to evacuate before the apothecaries could finish gene seed recovery of the losses caused irreporable damage to the Chapter's gene pool. He was summarily exiled from the Chapter, and left on a jungle planet.
He next appears five years later in a battle on a hive world, though many disputed this claim. He definatly, however, fought in a smaller battle against the Ork Warboss Ghretul, as his armor was found beside the slain warboss, though his body was not. Numberous sightings appeared after this, on many battlefields across the sector. His last sighting was two years ago in a battle against a Tyranid fleet, wheere members of his former chapter saw and recognized him, but they testfied that he has taken up new colors, and fought alongside other brothers in the same black and silver armor. No further sightings have been reported.

The Lost Penitents
Battle brothers have taken to referring to Mughayib and his followers as the Lost Penitents. They fight with great zeal and have always been reported in the thickest of fighting, though no one ever sees them enter the battle.

Strike Cruiser Hikm
A Strike Cruiser that had been missing for decades turned up in a quarentine sector five years ago. It hailed as the Strike Cruiser Hikm, commanded by Captain Mughayib. Wherever Mughayib appears, so does this Strike Cruiser, and it is almost a certanty this is Mughayib's ship.

Insignia
The Lost Penitents are recognized in battle by their black armor with silver trim. On the left shoulder they bear a red X, and their banners all bear the same X, and variations of fire. Shackles are often seen binding these men to their guns and armor.

Notes
Few vehicles are seen with the Lost Penitents, occasionally a leader will have a bike to ride, and it is rumored that a Land Raider crew joined Mughayib, but mostly reports are of only infantry. Chaplains are seen amongst the men, though where the came from remains a mystery. Techmarines are seen, and from the condition of their armor, are in high need. Their zeal in close quarters is unparralled save for those succommed to the blood lust.

Recomendations
Do nothing for the moment. Allow for further survailance and proper research before deciding if they are for the Emperor, or against. Also, it is rumored the Officio Assassinorum uses Mughayib to deliver assasins to battles, as they are increasingly seen amongst his men.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Real Stuff

Name
The Lost Penitents
Leader
Captain Mughayib
Base
Strike Cruiser Hikm
Traits

• Trust Your Battle Brothers
• Suffer Not the Works of Heretics
• Eye to Eye

Armor
Black with silver trim. A red 'X' is painted on the shoulder, and shackles are commonly seen.
How to Join
When Battle Brothers are exiled, which is rare enough, sometimes they'll seek out this Lost group and try to join up. There are 4 Trials and 2 Rites of Initiation before then can join.
Finding Strike Cruiser Hikm is the first, if one can do that, they are worthy of continuing.
Next they spar Mughayib himself, and if their prowess is high enough, are permitted to continue on. Otherwise, they're dropped on the closest world.
If they pass, they are left on a deserted planet anyways, but will be picked up. The Initiate is expected to survive on his own, and forge a pair of shackles, symbolic for the life they lead of repentance. This is also the first Rite, making the Shackles.
If all of the above is passed, they are accepted onto the Hikm for the first time as a Battle Brother, and allowed into the armory, where they paint their armor, and select their weapons.

This can all be found on this thread.

• If I get Ursarkar Creed, let him lead his 8th Cadian once more
• Use white, which I have about 4 of.
• Let me use my 8th Cadian Regimental banner

So, I'll be doing them, and hopefully start this week. Assuming I can bum a digital camera off someone, I should get pictures up.

I only buy off eBay now, due to my dislike to Games Workshop pricing policies, and also try to only buy when they're 2/3 off.

I got two basilisks, one not made, and one made and converted pretty well, and a Lemun Russ for my Imperial Guard. This is due to Shelby and my brother's pleas for more armour.

Normally that'd by $40 each for the basilisks, not including cost of customizing it with bitz, and $40 for the Lemun Russ. Total of $120. I got all for $60, with an extra $15 of shipping. Note, the shipping is not included in the GW prices above.

I'm quite pleased with this buy, and it's my warhammer purchase for this semester.

I'll let ya know how they turn out in battle.

Edit: Ok, I put pictures of them over on the right side, under "Warhammer Vehicles". Check 'em out. You can also view the pics by clicking on the name in the post.

For those of you able to read the lists, and understand 'em you might notice some weird things. I think Army Builder screwed up... a lot. One guy has 3 Close Combat weapons, and not bolt pistol... hmm... that's a puzzler, as I made all my sergeants the same. Also, there was user error. That's what irks me most is I didn't know my list well enough to use some stuff until half-way through the game. And some guys are all of a sudden missing power weapons I had previously given them... *peer*.

All told the game lasted 7 turns (6, with the random game length failing on the first turn, and our "Death Before Dishonor" rule being used) which was a major victory for the Eldar scum. They had 2500 Victory Points, we only had 1800. Excuses above aside, we got our butt's whipped. That won't happen again. From now on I'm going to design in Army Builder, then put it all onto paper. Just like the good old days.

Good performing units:

• Lascannon Dev squad
• Landraider
• Terminators
• Librarian

Poor Performing Units:

• Chaplains, all of 'em
• Scout Squads
• Vindicator, one lousy kill off ordanance

Now, take the above with this grain of salt. Those chaplains were user error for me putting them where they did not belong, ill-equipped anyways. The scouts just didn't do much, tragically, and that vindicator, should been in front of the rhino, not behind, as he never had line of sight.

As for the good, the lascannon teams elicited a few "oh crap's" out of the enemy, and were worth their weight. The termies only lasted one turn but, again, were worth their weight. Next time they'll deep strike somewhere painful. The Librarian didn't kill anything, but I kind of liked his powers. That landraider, I wish I had two of 'em. If I see another on eBay for $20 I'll definatly spring for it.

Sean or Will, if either of you'd like to make a post in response, lemme know (just use the comments).

Also, tomorrow I'll put up a battle report of a 4500 Space marine/Eldar Grudge Match. Hopefully we'll have a digital camera, and it'll include pictures.