Review: Forged in Battle, a Warhammer Fantasy Novel by Justin Hunter
"Whatever order the warbands had once possessed was gone. They were like a stampede of terrified animals, their eyes rolled wildly in their heads - but they didn't flee - they were in a frenzy of hatred and fury that went beyond all reason or understanding or even concern for their own safety. It had but one purpose: destroy Helmstrumburg."
- Forged in Battle by Justin Hunter, page 231
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1. Sap runs steadily down the trees around you- only it isn't sap. Bloody streams are trickling from corpses impaled on branches just above your head.
2. Trampled earth, carcasses, and blood spray lead you to a pond desecrated with horrific chunks of flesh and offal.
3. The banner of the enemy is daubed in blood and based with hastily flayed skulls.
4. A battered corpse secured to a tree by chains. Stones lay around its feet and bodies in a similar state are in a heap nearby.
5. Effigies of still dripping bone tied with wet tendon hang at eye-level like demented ornaments (thank you Blair Witch Project).
6. Human heads bubble in a gruel of gore within a cauldron surrounded by crude eating utensils.-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
I have loved Warhammer Fantasy ever since I first read "Fell Cargo" by Dan Abnett sometime around 5th grade. It remained my sole Warhammer Fantasy novel amongst a score of Warhammer 40,000 novels until I started purchasing ebooks and later found a wonderful secondhand bookstore near my house to supply me with tales from the Old World.
That secondhand bookstore is where I picked up "Forged in Battle".
The story is told through frequently switching viewpoints between the townsfolk of Helmstrumburg and the Halberdier company that serves it as they face an overwhelming beastmen menace. It's grim and gory- Beastmen viscerally flay their victims while the Halberdiers hopelessly stave off the end in a grimdark orchestra of over the top violence.
"Forged in Battle" is full of great action in a world that I absolutely adore. My biggest critique is that it needs another lookover by an editor. Frequently repeated words and some confusing scenes occasionally drew me out of the action.
I wouldn't let that sway your choice. If you see "Forged in Battle" for a reasonable price then you should pick it up and enjoy the desperate situation the halberdiers find themselves in!
The human miniatures that featured in this post are Tarn Vikings from Heroscape. These aren't from my original set, they were found in a $2 grab-bag with nearly all the base game miniatures at Goodwill!
After unsuccessful attempts to strip their paintjobs, I decided to just prime over them and painted them in Nordland Colors ("Forged in Battle" is set in Talabecland but the models were works in progress before I started reading the book). I really enjoyed making their bases out of thin creatology foam from the hobby store textured to look like cobblestone.
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