Before I respond individually, I want to say thank you all again for your support. I was having a few very rough days and your comments and support have helped, so know that I appreciate it sincerely and am thankful.
And thank you for the effort you're putting into this story.
It's making me think of actually playing a non-Space Wolf marine force!
FUCK YOU LEMAN YOU FURRY FUCK
Sorry, my inner Thousand Son appreciator/Magnus spoke out there for a moment. I actually remember Space Wolves from my first experience playing 40k since at the time of my introduction they were the meta army in my local meta, and so after getting curbstomped by veteran players they suggested proxying my marines as them...and then I won. 😁
My hope with the codex is that when it is completed it can inspire people to do their own unique armies and whatnot with spins on Iron Warriors and other such forces, and I am compiling proxy models for various characters and units that would be included in the codex so that if someone wants to do an Iron Empire themed army they can do so. To prevent spoilers I haven't released the full ruleset yet, but I am thinking people will enjoy the translation of the characters from page to play.
One hint at what is to come however is Earthshaker variants available in different force slots, such as an Elite version and a Fast Attack slot one as is only right for Iron Warriors who are obviously going to be based on an artillery-heavy world. As for who lives and dies and thus makes it into the Codex's main or Legends segments...well we'll see.
If I can I hug you Thunder only for this masterpiece.
I am a very affectionate person who can't avoid give love.
Thank you, I appreciate it. Have internet candy.
The curse of being good. You did a great work at world building, making distinct, well defined characters and an interesting story, but I guess it lacks something that would attract more casual readers. You don't have established cannon characters turned bad/good, you don't have teen angst, instead you set out to make a story that could stand on it's own merits and while you succeeded, it is not what attracts people these days.
I just seek to write character driven stories that build from the start of a protagonist's journey to an end (even if its not
the end), and that works for some and doesn't for others. I don't give them everything from the outset, they work towards it and earn what they get, and so they undergo the sort of Hero's journey in a more realistic sense than a condensed movie-like story that just is a highlight reel of events. Just look at how popular various manga/manhwa are that have protagonists start out completely busted and overpowered, it's in-vogue so to speak and fulfills various power fantasies that slower grinds don't tend to...but a slow grind to a near inevitable conclusion is how the Iron Warriors operate and so I feel it is the type of storytelling they should receive.
I also write each chapter as a sort of standalone short-story comprised of sections that each individually would be a chapter in another work, but because they fall under the same umbrella and would be the same section in a codex I release them together. In the same way I write events in a semi-historical manner like the narration in Legend of the Galactic Heroes because it is a story being conveyed after the fact, so it's a bit different from normal stories in that regard. I am writing a codex, and part of that is conveying a vast history of factions and characters that span hundreds if not thousands of years so that the reader understands the specific slice they fit into in such a developed and complex setting.
In that way a more general audience isn't expected, but it is always disappointing when even the niche audience you have cultivated says nothing since without hearing what people enjoy and what they don't you can't improve the story or your skills.
I guess if you had Tristan fall in with big titted eldar gf the readers would come in droves,
but I kind of stand with Salamanders on this matter.
The Eldar will actually have some presence in events as the Drukhari update showed, with their technology coming up again in The Iron Lich via the Iron Phylactery that now rests in Tristan's chest to replace his lost secondary heart.
I can firmly promise that none of our cast have big tit Eldar in their romantic future...but I did introduce an Incubi who was raised by a Human ultimately and so his tastes may be a bit 'different' compared to his other depraved kin. After all it wouldn't be Drukhari if they didn't have their own disturbed interests and desires, that just comes with the territory.
One of the reason why people don't involve themselves in your story has nothing to do with your writing though. The last few years drained people, with netizens constantly arguing about kung-flu, politics and whatever the current thing the media is pushing, they don't have energy to do anything else but passively consume entertainment. Writers and stories which established themselves before this low energy era still get considerable involvement, but the new stories get very little, I have seen multiple stories with great potential on various forums get next to no attention despite good writing, so I reckon if the story started a few years earlier you could have built a much larger loyal following that by itself would attract more readers and more involvement.
The unfortunate side-effect of timing and phenomena outside of any individual's control, but since I can't change the past or present I can only keep planning and writing for the future. I don't really gear my work to mass consumption anyways, especially since I am fine with an active yet niche community since there you can form better relationships and it's less creator/follower and more peer to peer.
English isn't everyone's first language so it isn't your fault.
You made good story which explain logically why nobody destroyed Iron Warriors yet - and no matter if they survive or not,it still would be good story.
Careful planning and hard work brought together allow for them to continue their operations as well as other situational assistance such as the presence of the Word Bearers who have a vested interest in personally wiping them out (not the Imperium) covering up the Iron Warrior's tracks and their own when possible.
Now,i do not care if Tristan survive and have babies with Isold,or if they die fighting valiantly,as long as you continue delivering good chapters.
Valiant deaths are on the horizon, but we'll see just whose lives are to be lost as future updates unfold! As for Tristan and Isolde on the subject of hypothetical children:
Of course the character talking is more like Levente, but "great big monsters that will conquer the world" about sums up what the giant Isolde and colossal Tristan could produce. After all, Tristan is what happens when someone who would naturally be a giant taller than 99.9999999% of Humans gets super soldier augmentation to become a mighty warrior. Given that excessive bone growth is a flaw in the Iron Warriors that was seemingly remedied by Ossus (given what was seen in the I Am Alpharius update) it's possible Tristan is benefitting from the fact Iron Warriors just happen to have excessive growth as a trait now without the downside thanks to a skilled Apothecary (who may have had help from Fabius Bile).
Palamedes /Tristan fight - Palamedes must try to get in melee with him and as many as possible other humans/Astartes.
Tristan must evade melee ,use firepower and automatons to keep Palamedes in one place without letting Palamedes fight anybody alive.
So...maybe Palamedes,just to get more blood,attack random cyvilians/slaneeshi cultists/techpriests first? blood is blood,after all.
You are correct, and ultimately Palamedes would want to strike at a moment where fighting is already occurring: if he strikes at an ongoing battle and joins in on the frenzy his foes won't be able to readily disengage or avoid him or his forces, allowing him to get the blood train going and for him to snowball the battle in his own favor.
Tristan meanwhile benefits from an isolated battlefield where they would be dueling, as he's already shown himself able to tank Palamedes
before making direct preparations to fight him even when blindsided and caught off guard by the Daemon Prince (their first meeting) and it took Palamedes using his skills in a way outside Tristan's knowledge to severely wound him (their second meeting). Now Tristan knows what Palamedes can do, so a third battle where Tristan is ready for him actually isn't a hopeless boss fight like for an average Astarte. Tristan's been prepping to avenge his family and world since he was a child, and so if any mere mortal has got a shot it'll be him.
This isn't to say it would be easy: a single severe slip up that lets Palamedes draw blood would begin to spiral the fight out of Tristan's control, so ironically a fast foe who can outpace the fast Palamedes would be a better counter since Palamedes couldn't hope to draw blood then if he's missing every hit...Tristan cannot ultimately be a speed-based tank because he is simply too large and weighs too much to move quickly, so he's doubled down on raw defense. It's not the perfect counter to Palamedes so it can still fail, but he at least will be able to give it a shot.
Essentially the perfect counter to Palamedes would be a Necron who is wickedly fast, a Psyker who can manipulate the blood in his body against him, or a incredibly skilled and supernaturally fast duelist of another species who could grind his massive HP to nothing while Palamedes just misses again and again...Tristan is none of these things, but he's determined to win anyways so is stacking what cards he can in his deck to still win.