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Author Topic: Death Masque "lore" [spoilers?]  (Read 1906 times)

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Offline Faeluchu

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Death Masque "lore" [spoilers?]
« on: September 8, 2016, 04:31:06 PM »
Am I the only one who felt intensely frustrated after reading through the Death Masque mission booklet?

All the machinations of Eldrad Ulthran (whose ten thousand years of knowledge in experience not only in far-seeing, but also in general manipulation ultimately lead to nowhere), all the power of the Harlequins, all the combined military might of Ulthwe and Saim-Hann, joined together in a campaign previously practically unheard of, years of preparations, an ambitious plan to give the whole race a fighting chance - it all goes to naught. And why? Because there happens to be a Deathwatch captain with his squad in the vicinity; because he happens to deduce that the fighting is just a ruse and all the real action is on the moon (deduces from the fact that a dead Harlequin looks upward at the moon - I mean, jeez, where else would a dead body's head point but upwards?). He also happens to be a master of fighting Harlequins - much more agile than even regular Eldar, wearing holo-suits that distort their shapes, skilled primarily in close combat - in thick mist, which doesn't seem to bother him that much, he can shrug off being stabbed in the back with a sword, not to mention that he has a magical grenade that puts everything inside a certain radius in permanent stasis, freezing time. And supposedly this "time manipulation" is why Eldrad decided not to safeguard himself against this possibility.

I mean, how far-fetched is that? A person who has spent ten THOUSAND years fiercely fighting for the good of the whole race, who has once even died for it, but has been retconned back in life, willing to sacrifice thousands of his brethren in an attack on a massive scale decided not to take into account literally this one thing. Let's put aside for a moment the masterful deduction of captain Artemis, his combat abilities, how his one grenade somehow turns the tide or even the question of "what was the Eldar fleet doing and why wasn't it guarding the moon" - how could someone like Eldrad, despite foreseeing such eventuality, not act on it in any way?

It seems to me that in the name of preserving status quo we've lost a brilliant opportunity to move the universe in a new direction. I'm not saying that Ynnead should destroy Slaanesh at once, because that would be unfair to all the perverted people who actually like Slaanesh ( ;) ), but the very fact of his existence would change the nature of the Eldar from a race doomed to slowly die to a race that has some spark of hope - something that all the other xeno races except for the Eldar already have. Instead, it seems to me that the whole race was kind of humiliated - that's the only word that comes to mind when you put together two Craftworld, a powerful, legendary Farseer and Harlequins and their efforts are thwarted by literally 10 Space Marines plus a Dreadnought and a couple of lucky chances. I mean, if Eldrad Ulthran, the best and brightest, can't outsmart a man who has grown up eating the bodies of the people he has killed, then maybe the race deserves to die.

Is it just me or is it another case of (almost trademark) "Space Marines Must Win"?
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Offline magenb

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Re: Death Masque "lore" [spoilers?]
« Reply #1 on: September 8, 2016, 07:06:45 PM »
yep, its a story to sell more space marines. Such a let down and a massive oppoortunity missed.






Offline Irisado

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Re: Death Masque "lore" [spoilers?]
« Reply #2 on: September 9, 2016, 05:13:17 AM »
I suppose that it could be possibly to argue that Eldrad deliberately chose not to take the action which you're referring to from the narrative for some other reason that has yet to be disclosed.  That said, I do concur that, on the face of it, this does seem to be a missed opportunity, and yet another narrative scenario where the Space Marines emerge on top just because they are Space Marines.
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Re: Death Masque "lore" [spoilers?]
« Reply #3 on: September 9, 2016, 07:16:10 AM »
Thats certainly disappointing. If it was Commander Dante, Azrael or Inquisitor Czevak I wouldn't have a problem, but I don't think an ordinary captain (even a deathwatch captain) should be able to outsmart Eldrad with so much on the line.

It reminds me of the Dawn of War video game, when in all the Eldar cutscenes they are getting trashed by the Imperials. Its like hey, can't we at least have some glory in our own cutscenes?

To be fair Death Masque is designed to promote the Death Watch and with their revamped rules they certainly are awesome. I like the pairing of the two armies etc. But with the birth of Ynnead on the line, I would imagine the Eldar would be on the top of their game, with nothing short of a truly masterful tactician, or an incredibly insightful mind like that of an Inquisitor being able to deduce the appropriate counter-strategy. That being said they are Ordos Xenos so they should have expertise in Eldar strategies. But in the end its Eldrad and in such a battle of wits, I think he should have come out on top. Especially with Harlequin aid.
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