Black Library has announced three new Warhammer 40,000 novels focused on the Astra Militarum, also known as the Imperial Guard.
The upcoming books are Cold Covenant by Peter Fehervari, Voice of Command by Richard Swan, and Auxilia by Russell Zimmerman. The three stories will follow Imperial soldiers confronting supernatural threats, military disasters, and conflict within their own ranks.
According to the official announcement from Warhammer Community, all three novels will be available to preorder soon. Exact preorder and release dates have not yet been revealed.
Three New Stories About the Astra Militarum
The Astra Militarum is the primary fighting force of the Imperium of Man. Unlike the genetically enhanced Space Marines, its armies are largely made up of ordinary human soldiers recruited from worlds across the galaxy.
These regiments are sent to fight aliens, heretics, daemons, and other threats with conventional weapons, armored vehicles, and overwhelming numbers. The Astra Militarum’s dependence on ordinary soldiers has also made it the focus of many of Black Library’s military and horror stories.
Each of the newly announced novels approaches the faction from a different direction.
Cold Covenant by Peter Fehervari
Cold Covenant is a new Dark Coil novel from Peter Fehervari. It follows the 27th Halgarth Brine Dogs regiment:
“After months stationed on a remote planet, they are finally due to depart for a new war zone. However, upon discovering they are bound for a death world, four Brine Dogs conspire to desert, a decision which sets off a spiral of tragedy and terror that will cast a long shadow, for the frozen world they’re on harbours a primal darkness.”
A Special Edition of Cold Covenant is also planned. It will include an afterword from Fehervari and an additional short story titled “Blindsight.”
Voice of Command by Richard Swan
Voice of Command will be the first full-length Black Library novel from Richard Swan, author of The Justice of Kings and the Empire of the Wolf trilogy.
“The 2002nd Cadian Mechanised Regiment has been sent to retake a fallen shrine-city on the planet Nymea. Can Colonel Gabriel ‘Venom’ Velterson overcome the toxic light of mysterious blue star, the endless heresy broadcast over the hijacked vox-network, being quarantined by the Inquisition, and having his forces squandered by capricious Nymean commanders?”
Auxilia by Russell Zimmerman
AAuxilia marks Russell Zimmerman’s Black Library novel-writing debut.
“Auxilia follows a fresh-faced Cadian Castellan who is forced to take command of a ragtag auxilia unit of abhumans, drawing the ire of his callous, and frankly murderous, Commissar, all while civil war erupts around him. Will his first command also be his last?”
Black Library has not revealed where the novel takes place or which specific abhuman groups will appear in the auxilia unit.
When Will the New Warhammer 40K Novels Be Released?
Black Library has confirmed that Cold Covenant, Voice of Command, and Auxilia will be available to preorder soon. No specific preorder dates or publication dates were included in the announcement.
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