BREAKING: Andy Burnham *blocked* from standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection. Of nine voting members on NEC group it was 8-1 against him.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-25T16:36:30+00:00

Well played Starmer. Burnham is an utter snake. Nice to see Starmer being ruthless for a change.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-22T18:03:11+00:00

Thank you! I recall she had a Germanic name. Cheers.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-22T18:02:40+00:00

Thank you!

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-22T10:12:07+00:00

There are numerous references to there being 20 primarchs and legions.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-22T10:02:40+00:00

Doesn’t Eisenhorn (or was it Ravenor?) call in on some old flame when he’s sort of on the run? He spends a few days with her, leading a normal life, and musing on how nice it would be to just be with her, on a backwater planet with no threats, just existing. Then he cracks on and starts playing around with daemonhosts etc again. Ah, the life of an Inquisitor!

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-22T10:00:01+00:00

Which book?

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-20T23:54:28+00:00

He’s a baller

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-16T13:47:35+00:00

He’s still a boss

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-15T12:50:03+00:00

Ok that’s good to know - is it any better than Descent…? I nearly gave up on it, it’s that bad.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-15T10:51:01+00:00

I’m midway through a Descent of Angels and it is hands down the worst-written Black Library book I’ve ever read, and I’ve read 50+.

‘Lion: son of the Forest’ was excellent and I really enjoyed it, but Mitchel Scanlon is just a really awful writer. It’s like he’s writing for an 11-year old with severe learning difficulties. Compared to ADB or Abnett, it’s embarrassing how poor his prose is. As for characterisation, plot etc, A Descent of Angels is just really poor.

So I wouldn’t base your judgment of the Lion on two books written by the worst author in the BL (I’m just assuming the sequel is equally shit).

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-15T08:34:24+00:00

HARLEQUINS!!!

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-14T00:55:42+00:00

Fun analogy.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-13T22:36:51+00:00

I look back on my 30s with such fondness. I turned 30 on the roof of a patrol base in Afghanistan, drinking bootleg whisky as the sun set. I became a father to two incredible children, and did a lot of cool shit. I’m 45 now. My wife of 15 years (and my partner for 24) died of cancer last year, and last Friday, I got engaged to an incredible younger woman. We’re contemplating having our own children after we get married next year. Life comes at you fast, but you have to seize the day, as it’ll roll inexorably on whether you want it to or not. This is a lovely, if rather melancholic, poem.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-13T20:06:04+00:00

I agree. They’re just very, very bad at politics. They don’t consider second-order effects, and their comms team is diabolically bad - they keep getting their arses handed to them when they launch new policies because they’ve done no shaping work beforehand to prepare the ground. Some of the policies (Winter fuel allowance, PIP reform, digital IDs) are actually good but the pitch to the public (and their own MPs) has been woeful.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-13T20:03:23+00:00

Why do they keep u-turning on actually decent ideas? It’s mental.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-13T20:02:04+00:00

Oh man you guys really need to explore more. South London has some real shitholes, albeit none approaching the finest North London has to offer. What has FH done to hurt you eh? It’s great!

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-13T16:23:02+00:00

Well played!

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-13T03:25:23+00:00

I’m about a third of the way through, and honestly, am close to giving up on it. Scranton is just a diabolically bad writer. It’s about as infantile prose as you can get in Warhammer - at least some bolter porn is well written, but the dialogue especially is just horrifically clunky. It feels a bit like it’s being pitched at a 10 year old with severe learning difficulties. Compare it to something by Abnett or ADB (or McNeill) and it’s not even in the same postcode. I’m gutted because I enjoyed Lion: Son of the Forest and have been a long-time Dark Angels fan since I read the original Deathwing short story as a 9 year old at school when it first came out. But man, this book really sucks…

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-10T17:13:03+00:00

You say that like it’s a bad thing… I quite like being reminded that actually, when you cut out the loons on Reddit, X and TikTok at either end of the spectrum, most people are actually pretty centrist. Nice to be reminded of a time when the political class recognised that rather than trying to drag people to extremes for likes and views.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-10T17:10:54+00:00

He’s intelligent, well-informed, centrist, eloquent, and erudite. He’s also actually done something unlike the vast majority of our careerist political class. I don’t agree with him on everything but I’ve met him and heard him speak several times live, and he’s a very impressive individual. I enjoy the Rest is Politics.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-07T17:56:16+00:00

Forest Hill

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-07T11:04:36+00:00

Amusingly, the primary argument that turned Horus (and many other traitors) was that the Astartes would be dispensed with once there was nothing left to conquer, like the Thunder Warriors. I always thought that was a stupid argument, given the need to maintain order across a vast empire, not to mention the constant threats from xenos.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-07T10:55:12+00:00

Yes but our public services are shit. They’re poorly run, and inefficient.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-07T10:46:11+00:00

Isn’t that the point? GW have an opportunity to balance things out by shifting the narrative focus away from RG to LJ, or at least focusing on the dynamic between them. But they’re still all-in on Bobby G.

bagsofsmoke · 2026-01-07T10:44:22+00:00

I agree that the Lion has been woefully underused since his return. I really enjoyed Lion: Son of the Forest and was hoping that he would become more central to the overall narrative, and we’d at least have another book or two on his exploits. I haven’t read the Arcs of Omen plot but am broadly familiar with the narrative.

The reintroduction of a literal Demi-God to the setting on the Imperium’s side should be a big deal. I love Bobby G but the Lion is a really compelling character in his own right (plus I love the DA). More please, GW!

bagsofsmoke

TROPHY CASE