He was once just a man, a newly minted officer from the ranks of the schola progenium.His first mission under the tutelage of Lord Commissar Rasp was on Mistral. Here, an uprising of barons had upset the delicate balance of power. But, as Yarrick was soon forced to learn, Mistral and Imperial politics are often murky, the truth seldom clear cut. As war engulfs the world, a plot unravels that pits old friends against one another and fashions unusual alliances. Chaos cults, the fanatical Adepta Sororitas and clandestine inquisitors all stand between Yarrick and his mission. Here is where the legend began. In this crucible was Lord Commissar Sebastian Yarrick forged in blood.

    They live in solitude… which is about to be broken as danger approaches.READ IT BECAUSEPeter Fehervari brings a tale of an unusual order of the Sisters of Battle, a sister breaking her self-imposed exile and an Astra Militarum unit seeking respite from their woes… and it's every bit as weird and wonderful as you'd hope.THE STORYThe Adepta Sororitas of the Last Candle have stood vigil over their sanctuary world for centuries, striving to decipher their founder's tormented visions. Outsiders are unwelcome… yet still they come.Decimated by an encounter with a lethal xenos entity, the survivors of an elite Astra Militarum company have journeyed to the Candleworld in search of healing, escorted by a woman who is no stranger there – Sister Hospitaller Asenath Hyades, who turned her back on the order decades ago.As the seekers near the sect's bastion, malign forces begin to stir among the planet's storm-wracked spires, but the most insidious shadows lie in their own souls.

    Clodde is an ogryn, a brute with a core of decency and a desire for a better life. Two abhuman deserters turned thieves, at large in the monolithic city of Varangantua, where only the tough or the ruthless survive. Having landed in debt to a savage crime lord, Baggit and Clodde end up in the crosshairs of the meanest, most puritanical sanctioner in the city. Caught between two powerful enemies, and with innocent lives at stake, the unlikely companions must think fast and hustle hard before death points a las-pistol in their direction…

    Its fortresses and armies have held back the hordes of Chaos for centuries, but that grim defiance is about to reach its end. As Abaddon’s Thirteenth Black Crusade batters Cadia’s defences and the armies of the Imperium flock to reinforce this crucial world, a terrible ritual long in the making comes to fruition, and the delicate balance of this brutal war shifts… From the darkness, a hero rises to lead the beleaguered defenders, Lord Castellan Ursarkar Creed, but even with the armoured might of the Astra Militarum and the strength of the Adeptus Astartes at his side, it may not be enough to avert disaster and prevent the fall of Cadia. While Creed lives, there is hope. While there is breath in the body of a single defender, Cadia Stands… but for how much longer?

    When a cataclysm cuts him off from his tech-priest overseers, Stroika must rally his forces and battle corrupt machines and Chaos Space Marines if he is to achieve victory.Presented in a full-colour wrap-around dust jacket with foil finish, this strictly-limited edition is a must for anyone intrigued by the mysteries of the Adeptus Mechanicus.Individually numbered from a print run of 1,000, it includes luxurious copper gilt-edging, an exclusive four-page colour section and a crimson marker ribbon.This is a fantastic insight into the inner workings of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and a display of their resilience in the face of absolute disaster. Plus, cold, unfeeling cybernetic efficiency in battle against the merciless swirl of Chaos is always a recipe for action.

    Whether Ragnar and his friends are fighting orks, mutants, or the foul forces of Chaos, adventure is never far behind!

    On the Imperial Hive World of Ikara IX, Chaplain Kastor and Apothecary Polixis, brothers in blood as well as in battle, stand firm against the endless Greenskin horde. But a threat is looming. An invasion like no other assaults the broken city of Shebat, as the crazed warlord Urgork arrives to lay waste to the Imperial forces and capture a Primaris Marines for his own twisted ends. As Kastor and Polixis find themselves separated by the disaster that unfolds, the brothers must turn the tide of war to win the battles that rage within their very natures, as well as those upon the battlefield.

    Where the predations of the alien, the witch and the heretic threaten the Imperium, the Angels of Death fight to oppose them.Brother-Sergeant Allectius wages a brutal war of attrition against a seemingly endless xenos foe. But when the vile necrons unleash a mysterious pall over him and the people he protects, Allectius must take his fight beyond the walls… for more than just victory, now their very survival is at stake.Also included in this book is a host of awesome short stories to give you a flavour of the many warring armies that exist within the worlds of Warhammer 40,000.CONTENTSNexus by Thomas ParrottKraken by Chris WraightRedeemer by Guy HaleyThe Test of Faith by Thomas ParrottThe Darkling Hours by Rachel HarrisonLightning Run by Peter McLeanMissing in Action by Dan AbnettThe Crystal Cathedral by Danie WareTo Speak as One by Guy HaleyWhere Dere's Da Warp Dere's a Way by Mike BrooksRedemption on Dal'yth by Phil KellyVoid Crossed by J C StearnsLight of a Crystal Sun by Josh ReynoldsWar in the Museum by Robert RathHeadhunter by Steve ParkerDuty Unto Death by Marc Collins

    On the battlefields of the far future, only an insane man wouldn’t be. Seventeen years old and still new to the Imperial Guard, he is thrust straight into his first war and must face horrors that his sheltered upbringing could never prepare him for.READ IT BECAUSEIt's a sharp, incisive look at the first hours of war for a new Guardsman, and at all the terrors attendant with that…THE STORYArvin Larn is terrified. On the battlefields of the far future, only an insane man wouldn't be. Seventeen years old and still new to the Imperial Guard, he is thrust straight into his first war and must face horrors that his sheltered upbringing could never prepare him for. The trenches of the 41st millennium are filled with worse things than rats and trenchrot. For one, the world they fight for is being contested by the monstrous barbarian orks. The orks live for battle and know no fear, so it's no wonder that the average life-span of an Imperial Guardsman on this forsaken world is only fifteen hours.

    Each is obsessed with their own speciality, and their rivalry spans millennia. Yet together, they may hold the secret to saving the necron race…READ IT BECAUSEExplore a story told across the millennia that delves deep into a pair of fascinating necron characters, their relationship and their plans for the galaxy.THE STORYBefore the being called the Emperor revealed Himself, before the rise of the aeldari, before the necrontyr traded their flesh for immortal metal, the world was born in violence.Even when they inhabited bodies of flesh, Trazyn the Infinite and Orikan the Diviner were polar opposites. Trazyn, a collector of historical oddities, presides over a gallery full of the most dangerous artefacts – and people – of the galactic past. Orikan, a chronomancer without peer, draws zodiacs that predict and manipulate the future. But when an artefact emerges that may hold the key to the necrons’ next evolution, these two obsessives enter a multi-millennia game of cat and mouse that ends civilisations, reshapes timelines, and changes both forever. As riddles unwind and ancient secrets are revealed, the question remains: will their feud save the necron race or destroy it?

    But with armies to defeat and loot to seize, Ufthak's boyz might just need Badrukk's help – though that doesn't mean they can trust him…READ IT BECAUSEGet into the heads of a band of orks in the first-ever novel from their point of view. Discover what it takes to be part of the Waaagh! and carve out your own little piece of glory amidst the mayhem in a novel that's brutal, kunnin' – and darkly hilarious.THE STORYUfthak Blackhawk and the green tide descend upon Hephaesto – an Adeptus Mechanicus forge world bristling with loot – only to find it already under siege by the notorious Freebooter Kaptin Badrukk. When his warboss, Da Biggest Big Mek, orders temporary co-operation, Ufthak seeks to make a name for himself by crushing some of the Imperium’s most advanced defenders and claiming the greatest prize. But with a sinister new war machine on the horizon, Badrukk’s plotting, and a thoroughly annoying grot in his way, Ufthak is going to need the brutal kunnin’ of Mork himself just to survive.

    For the Necron Lord Oltyx, the Ithakas dynasty was his by right, but the machinations of the court see him stripped of his position and exiled to a forgotten world.READ IT BECAUSESee the struggles of the Necron court through their own eyes, and discover the lengths one Lord will go to for the status they desire.THE STORYExiled to the miserable world of Sedh, the disgraced Necron Lord Oltyx is consumed with bitterness. Once heir to the throne of a dynasty, he now commands nothing but a dwindling garrison of warriors, in a never-ending struggle against Ork invaders. Oltyx can think of nothing but the prospect of vengeance against his betrayers, and the reclamation of his birthright. But the Orks are merely the harbingers of a truly unstoppable force. Unless Oltyx acts to save his dynasty, revenge will win him only ashes. And so he must return to the crownworld, and to the heart of the very court which cast him out. But what awaits there is a horror more profound than any invader, whose roots are tangled with the dark origins of the Necrons themselves.

    His name is whispered and cursed across both time and space, a peerless blademaster who even death cannot threaten. He is Lucius the Eternal, blessed by Slaanesh and the greatest swordsman of all the fell Legions imprisoned within the Eye of Terror. With his armies exhausted by unending war and consumed by their own twisted iniquities, Lucius turns to an erstwhile brother of the Emperor's Children to rebuild his strength. Faced with betrayal from without and even from within his own flesh, will Lucius discover something that even one who cannot know death should fear?

    Only one thing stands in their way: the wrathful, holy fire of the Adepta Sororitas.READ IT BECAUSEAfter her first Adepta Sororitas story, the fantastic 'Mercy', Danie Ware returns with a longer tale of Sister Superior Augusta and her squad bringing their faith and fury to their enemies.THE STORYFrom the blasphemy of the fallen… Our Emperor, deliver us. At the edge of the Imperium sits the fetid jungle world of Lautis. Amidst the creeping foliage and ancient monuments, a horror is rising. From the depths of a crumbling cathedral come bloodied nightmares, intent on fulfilling their dark purpose by any means necessary. Only one thing stands in their way: the wrathful, holy fire of the Adepta Sororitas. Filled with the light of the Emperor, Sister Superior Augusta and her squad are a force to be reckoned with. They are here to purge the darkness from Lautis with prayer and bolter, and nothing will stop them. But the things that dwell in the darkness aren’t afraid. Augusta must put her trust in her Battle Sisters and lead them into the shadows of the crypts in search of the truth. Faith and fire are powerful weapons, but will they be enough to defeat the sinister powers that lurk in the deeps?

    GotoThe Prisoner by Graham McNeillThe Invitation by Dan AbnettA Balance of Faith by Darren-Jon AshmoreGate of Souls by Mike LeeFate's Masters, Destiny's ServantsTears of Blood by C.S. Goto