The Astartes Family's Notebook

So some longtime fans have asked me, "You're so incompetent! If you had revised those first dozen or so chapters, the results would have been much better. There's no dialogue in those dozen or so chapters. Just look at the book reviews; a lot of people are saying that."

Well, Wu Neng is just an online novelist; he doesn't even dare to call himself an online novelist, so he has no right to teach readers anything.

However, what is called "water" is actually low in information content and involves speaking in circles.

The book "Household Affairs" is packed with information in every chapter.

If it were any other writer with similar incompetence and experience, this book would have been shut down long ago.

However, Wu Neng thinks it's not bad, he can accept it. What right does an old guy who has only written three million words in ten years have to be so sentimental?

The key is to stabilize your core fanbase and win over both new and old readers who are willing to support you, no matter how incompetent you may be.

So even if some book reviews are subjective and harsh, Wu Neng didn't delete them. It's unwise to argue with readers. If Wu Neng could write two million words a year, he would have become a Level 5 author in ten years. Seniority is only something to brag about. In the online literature circle, results matter.

The results are given by the readers.

Here I have to mention why Wu Neng chose this style to write this Warhammer novel.

Let me first give you some background information.

When GW first created the Warhammer 40K IP, its positioning was quite unclear.

Simply put, these British guys are using a bunch of stereotypes to mock themselves.

As a result, Warhammer Fantasy was ruined by GW itself, but Warhammer 40K inexplicably survived and is becoming increasingly popular.

As a result, even GW himself was baffled. How could this black joke trash can, which is a collection of stereotypes, be so popular?

So, in order to cater to the market, GW went on a trolling spree, forcibly twisting the dark, brutal, medieval-style total annihilation theme into its current incongruous form.

The cultural atmosphere in China is different, but anyone who knows a little about Christianity knows that the world-ending ending of Warhammer Fantasy is essentially the Messiah and the final judgment.

Given the Catholic cultural environment, even the British themselves didn't know how to continue the Warhammer IP.

Compared to Hayek's masterful touch, the four peddlers of Chaos were still far too inexperienced.

So Wu Neng was thinking at the time, what would the Purgatory Galaxy look like under normal logic, and what would the human empire look like?

The more I think about it, the more promising this idea seems.

Workplace bullying in Astartes, infighting between the Mechanicus and other powerful departments of the Empire, and central-local conflicts among the governments of the five star systems.

Instead of focusing on Astral Incarnations and Extraterrestrial Demons, could we write an interesting Warhammer story by taking the workplace life of a local Astartes like Karz as the starting point?

The book's current success proves that the idea of ​​incompetence was not wrong; the only problem was that it was too ambitious.

Initially, Wu Neng wanted to write an introductory Warhammer novel with educational elements that would be accessible to both Cloud Hammer and Old Hammer users.

Later it turned out that this was pure wishful thinking.

A complete novice like me will miss many of the inside jokes and references. The more you try to explain to an experienced user, the less likely you are to succeed.

This is an irreconcilable, fundamental contradiction. You're utterly incompetent; you're courting death.

Many writers whose achievements are several times or even ten times greater than yours don't dare to touch this area, so how dare you!

For more than a month after the product was released, Wu Neng was constantly troubled by this problem.

This is a fatal flaw; from the very beginning, it was a dead end.

However, by the end of October, Wu Neng suddenly discovered the solution.

This was also a key factor in the steady increase in the number of readers during that period.

We Chinese should have our own understanding of warhammers!

Since Warhammer itself is a collection of stereotypes, wouldn't the stereotypes about Warhammer held by Chinese thinking also be part of Warhammer culture?

Once you understand this, you'll suddenly realize that the essence of this book is, and can only be, finding rationality within irrationality.

This is the biggest potential and selling point.

Compared to the stingy self-redemption and self-sacrifice of Westerners, our Chinese approach is more suitable for rejecting moral blackmail.

Therefore, the focus of the discussion gradually shifted from simple popular science to, if the stereotypes in Warhammer are real, then what kind of political games and exchanges of interests exist behind the many irrationalities?

So, fellow readers, think back: aside from the fact that the author is incompetent, who would tell you that the Orbital Elevator Tower was built to collect taxes and prevent smuggling? And who would tell you that the Astartes Chapter would also engage in petty corruption over daily necessities?

Existence is its own justification. Wu Neng suddenly realized that if he wanted to satisfy both the new and old Warhammer, he couldn't be confined to the framework of the backstory. We must analyze the gains and losses of all parties behind the many illogical things, assuming that the Warhammer universe really exists.

Once I figured this out, I could finally stand up straight and complete Blizzard's ten-year-old story. I'm really good at this.

The above is exactly two thousand words, which can be considered a small summary of my mental journey over the past six months.

Next, let's talk about the accumulated debates surrounding the book reviews.

The first difference is between the power hammer and the thunder hammer.

In fact, none of the book lovers who participated in the debate got this right.

I specifically looked it up, and the Thunder Hammer is a type of Power Hammer; they are related. The difference is that when the Thunder Hammer is fully charged and released, it emits a thunderous booming sound, hence the name. As for the force field used by either the Power Hammer or the Thunder Hammer, GW doesn't specify it, so I couldn't find any information. Checking game data from Dark Tide and Space Marine II, the main difference is that the Power Hammer is generally a single-headed hammer, while the Thunder Hammer is a double-headed hammer. Aside from that, there aren't many other significant differences.

Since we've already talked about the Thunder Hammer, let's move on to the Power Claw and Lightning Claw.

In this area, the bloggers on Bilibili who make Warhammer popular science videos are talking nonsense and reposting random content.

The Power Claw and Lightning Claw do not have the same inclusion relationship as the Power Hammer and Thunder Hammer.

The Power Claw integrates the disintegration field and claw blades into the gauntlet. Each of the five fingers has an independent disintegration field, making it a truly powerful weapon. Like Horus, the hand equipped with the Power Claw cannot hold a bomb gun.

The lightning claw is different; it usually has three or five claws, and there are also very special styles with two claw blades. These are fixed to the arm armor, not the hand armor, which is the kind on the outside of the forearm.

Therefore, Astartes equipped with the Lightning Claw can use the bomb gun with that hand without activating the Lightning Claw.

This is the most straightforward way to distinguish between the Lightning Claw and the Power Claw.

Returning to the topic of ships, as I've already explained, the game's rules are paramount. Any settings that conflict with Gothic Fleet, regardless of whether the information is from LEX or the Black Library, must be based on the settings in the Gothic Fleet game.

Therefore, some readers have said that there are problems with the description of the Viper-class destroyers, and that it is not like that in the Gothic Fleet.

You're right. I'm not being sarcastic; I genuinely admit you're right. Other readers who saw this review, please don't argue. I admit he's right, but I won't change.

The Dawn of War series nailed the Blood Ravens to the pillar of shame of Astartes. The Blood Ravens themselves didn't say anything. If you want to live a decent life, your hands are never clean. Let it be, everyone should understand.

By the way, I found a bug in the official GW information a few days ago.

As is well known, the Gothic Wars took place before Macallian's expedition, a gap of nearly two hundred years. However, Macallian's time as Lord of the Sun was actually only a little over a decade.

Then, fellow readers, guess what the name of a heavy cruiser was during the Gothic War?

The Sun Lord Macarius.

Tsk tsk, the world is just a makeshift operation.

But that's not necessarily true; what if we get lost in warp space?

After telling the GW joke, let's talk about the weight of power armor.

Back when I was following Throne of Sword, I also had a debate with Draco. Because of my old memories, I remembered that power armor should weigh half a ton. Then Draco, who was depressed, just threw out a string of code and told me to look it up myself, saying that in GW's setting, power armor weighs more than 200 kilograms.

I was indignant, so I clicked on it, only to find it wasn't a porn site. What kind of author does that? Dragon Phoenix, are you even human?!

Ahem, getting back to the main point, GW has retconned again.

And upon closer reflection, the book's content was rather perfunctory; it simply replaced the full weight of the power armor with the full combat weight of the Astartes.

Thus, subtracting the 200 kilograms from Astartes, the power armor does indeed seem to weigh around 200 kilograms, less than 300 kilograms, so the combat weight remains at half a ton.

Furthermore, the empire's mysterious materials science black technology is still making its mark.

Ceramic steel, versatile in many ways, can also instantly disperse the heat generated by laser weapons, explaining why the Astartes armor plates have such good defensive performance against large-headed flashlights.

Plastic steel, as light as plastic, is generally used to make support frames and linings.

So now I understand. Astartes' armor, with its outer ceramic steel plates and inner plastic steel components, weighing over 200 kilograms, suddenly makes sense.

Similarly, Wu Neng has worked in a cold rolling mill. As one reader said, the Terminator A's size, if it were solid, would indeed weigh more than five tons. A cold-rolled steel coil of similar size would easily weigh over ten tons.

However, the principle is the same. The quality of PVC is undeniable; if you don't understand, ask GW.

Speaking of power armor, let me also address the protection issue raised by some readers.

Anyone who has served in the military or played realistic military-themed games knows, and even some well-made Warhammer short films depict it, that when Astartes fires or engages the enemy without cover, they turn their body to the side.

These are reasonable details.

Because the Astartes' breastplate integrates too many electronic components, its protective capabilities are not as robust as they appear.

For Astartes' power armor, the protective capability is directly and bluntly linked to the thickness of the external terracotta armor plates.

The later the model, the thicker the power armor, shoulder armor, arm armor, waist armor skirt, and outer leg armor, so it is indeed reasonable for Astartes to turn its body to face the enemy.

Moreover, in the old illustrations, the Astartes power armor's massive shoulder armor almost completely enclosed the tactical helmet, which, while not aesthetically pleasing, was very realistic.

On the contrary, in recent years, new images and CGs have reduced the size of the shoulder armor for better visual appeal, and have brought back the tactical helmet of the Astartes.

It looks good, but no matter how sturdy a tactical helmet is, can it compare to those heavy shoulder armor?

So if you pay attention to the comparison, you will find that the older the pictures and CG short films are, the shorter the exposed length of the upper arm at the lower edge of the Astartes' shoulder armor. In extreme cases, the elbow is just a little bit below the shoulder armor.

In newer expansion packs, the shoulder armor is more form-fitting, prioritizing aesthetics over practicality.

It's hard to say whether it's good or bad; he's definitely handsome, but it's hard to describe in a few words.

Of course, the original casting surgery explains everything.

The eldest son, Astartes, has become a relic of the past.

This is also why Wuneng didn't let Kaz transfer the golden laurel from the power armor to the Terminator armor.

The shoulder armor doesn't match.

There are still many topics we could discuss, but with New Year's Day just around the corner, I wish everyone a Happy New Year in advance.

I hope both new and old readers will continue to support me. Even if I'm not capable, I'll still try my best to finish this book by 2026.

The fundamental principle remains the same: to succeed in online literature, one must develop their own style, making it difficult for AI to easily imitate.

It's okay if you don't like my writing style. I'll make up for the bad character I lacked when I wrote Warcraft in this book. I'll try to write something more accessible next time. See you again someday.

Thank you for your continued support of my incompetent readers. This time, I will not make you wait another ten years. See you tomorrow.

Breaking News! Genetic Modification Surgery

GW created the Warhammer 40K IP, with characters, backgrounds, stories, and settings, all just to sell its half-finished chess pieces. And they even made customers paint and color them themselves!

However, in China, most Warhammer fans are only interested in aspects other than the broken little figures.

So, first, stack armor. Regarding the gene seed implantation surgery, GW's own settings are all vague. What I'm saying is just one person's opinion. If you think it makes sense, just read it for fun. If you think it's wrong, you can leave a comment to refute it, but I may not respond.

I won't go into the word count for the parts that aren't paid; you can look up the specifics of the nineteen gene-editing surgeries yourself.

Here, I'll focus on the issue of surgical success rate.

Forget it, I deleted and rewrote it, but I'll still rant a bit.

It's not that I'm incompetent and want to be a remnant of the old regime, but back in the Warhammer 40K forum of Battlefield Commander, I really saw quite a few substantial posts. At that time, the internet was just emerging, and as the most famous community in China, there were a lot of experts.

With the internet so developed now, there isn't a single reliable information site. While LEX is authoritative, its poor translations are incredibly frustrating, especially as a content aggregation site.

Not to mention the White Dwarf Magazine and the Black Library.

Gene seeds are glands that collect genetic material; their function is to collect the genetic material of Astartes.

So this thing isn't directly implanted into the recruits' bodies; the Space King has done a lot of harm.

Don't confuse genetic seeds with sacred eggs.

This thing needs to be incubated and cultivated by a pharmacist before it can be used.

Therefore, the superhuman organs needed for Astartes' nineteen gene-modification surgeries were first cultivated from gene seeds and then implanted.

Furthermore, the "nineteen gene modification surgeries" doesn't simply mean performing nineteen surgeries. The term itself is inaccurate. It's not that there's a problem with the domestic translation, but rather that GW retconned the original text when refining the setting.

Since the Great Expedition, there has never been a fixed activation and conversion method for the use of gene seeds.

This topic needs to be broken down into many parts, which would take more than ten thousand words. If I'm not capable enough, I'll just be arbitrary and only talk about the controversial parts.

That is the so-called first to fourth steps of the modification surgery, namely the second heart, muscle strengthener, bone strengthener, and blood strengthener. These four surgeries are actually performed simultaneously.

These four surgeries form the basis for a series of subsequent surgeries. However, the gene seed not only develops into nineteen modified and implanted organs, but also secretes a gene mutation-inducing substance.

This is why a warband prepares additional new blood candidates based on its own pharmacist's surgical success rate.

After using methods similar to gene sequencing, for example, if the pharmacist in battle group A is skilled enough to achieve a 50% success rate in the surgery, then for each gene seed, two candidates need to be prepared, and the preliminary preparations for the modification surgery need to be carried out simultaneously.