Disagree, an Exterminatus would have been a gross missuse of vital war assets. Giving the Vindicare Assassin strict instructions to only take the shot if he can utilize a shieldbreaker round would have been more than enough. Sure, the cardinal would have had more time to build his forces, but it wouldn't have meant anything with the Cardinal ending up dead. Would there have been anger at the Imperium due to this? Sure, but without their spiritual leader the Vraksian forces would have inevitably devolved into infighting groups of zealots and opportunists, which then could have been taken care of through other means. This would have also kept the majority of the wargear stockpiles filled and untainted.
@@AnonD38well, it's only about very early days of conflict, sure, but by the time of clear chaos corruption and very long siege, it was the best choice, though, like in real life, it would mean that all previously spent resources are wasted, which doesn't look good in reports.
@@gi1dor Also the use of Exterminatus was not considered as the Armories and Bunkers of the Citadel were built to withstand exterminatus class weaponry. Realistically it would have only further empowering the Chaos worshippers by giving them millions if not billions of fresh sacrifices.
@@flaviomonteiro1414makes sense especially if said Fallen joined the Alpha Legion since Dark Angels came in to specifically kill them, destroy their space port and pissed off. Dark Angels are cool but still kind of a bunch of dickheads
Ian, I gotta say, the way you can bring a fictional war to life through narration is... frankly incredible. There are legitimate history shows about actual conflicts and events that actually happened that aren't this vivid.
@@ArbitorIan I can't but agree. There's a channel called the great war where one guy narrates and explains the entirety of the WWI week by week with many details and photo-video materials. This video reminded me of exactly that.
Absolutely phenomenal work, Ian. Given the IMMENSE detail in those books, having an easier video to let people learn about this (imo) absolutely peak 40k tale is really really useful for ongoing fandom and community too rather than relying on innacurate wikis or out of print books. Doubly so as you focus rightly on that this isn't a "badass Death Korps" story like many portray it as. It's a story of abject failure, told properly here. Brilliant stuff.
@@Jedishill680As any sane regiment should have. The obsession with ponderous sunk cost fallacy is partly why Vraks got so bad in the first place by feeding the death on that planet.
Some people will disagree, but you can definitely do more long form lore videos! This was brilliant! You have a wonderfully calm and dignified manner of speech that makes for a smooth listen. Additionally, a concise video of the siege of vraks? That doesn't leave much out? In only a little more then an hour? Most fanatic 40k nerds couldn't do it (too many rabbit holes to go down). Please do more!
Important to point out that in the first edition of siege of vracks forgeworld didnt sell any alpha legion models so they arrived in ultramarine livery and you were supposed to have ultramarines facing of against the dark angels in the campaign battles. I have some ultramarines in my alpha legion warband for this reason with a little hydra on the back of their right leg as a friend/foe identifier
I mean that wasn't ever a quality of the main line 40K books. It was very unique to what Forge World was doing. I agree with the underlining sentiment, the Imperial Armour books were artistically fantastic.
I am routinely astounded at how well the story can be told when the narrator isn’t in love with their own voice and decides to make a 40 hour series out of it.
@@StigPrice if AI can expedite the process and bring us more quality storytelling then more power to them. Although when all lore channels start using the same voices with the same inflections, the channels with a more personal touch will be the ones that gather the largest followings.
@@eshaanjain9379 Lol yeah, actual WW1 and the Spanish Flu right after killed more people. FW writers aren't the best when it comes to scale, then again, most people can barely visualize a thousand people
@@christiandauz3742 To get to casualty figures of 'Trillions on both sides', you're talking about like 'the Horus Heresy'. Pretty high on the scale, is the thing.
@@basedeltazero714 There are many Hive Worlds with Hundreds of Trillions of people during the Heresy In one horrific incident the Alpha Legion unleashed a virus that kills plant life. 80 BILLION starved to death in the Issos Genocide The Alpha Legion alone probably killed Two Trillion in the Heresy
Thank you for putting in so much effort, the maps really help with picturing what might have happened. As always the pacing and your delivery were incredible and easy to follow, even for a non-native english speaker.
I can also recommend the Vraks series of Janovich. It is longer tho (currently 2-3 hours or so its still not finished) because he goes into a little more detail and he has also animated maps. (But sadly no awesome Artwork or Dioramas in between)
Sometimes I watch youtube analysis of various real life historical battles and sieges, and Ian somehow makes a fictional one feel almost as real and dramatic. Which is also a credit to the source material I’m sure. Love these videos.
It's also only really Imperial Armour that can do anything like that. Vraks is the prime example, while baseline GW campaign lack a lot of detail and sense
I have to say, Ian is one of the few 40k dudes I can easily listen to a for a whole hour without getting brainfog. Just a pleasant yet authoritative voice without any rambling on side points
Man, given this and especially your Badab War coverage, it really seems like the Imperial Armor stuff from back in the day had the best material to do with wars in 40k. The combination of motivations, politics, complications, etc., like real wars have, make it so much more interesting than all the "Space Marines see evil, go to place, evil is big but they kill evil. Story over" that we so often get from 40k wars.
I just had to come back and say thank you to Ian. I've got a big interest in the First World War so naturally was drawn to factions like the Death Korps, and the Vraks campaign as it's just basically the Battle of Verdun, but 40k and with Demon Engines. But, this was such an amazing breakdown of the lore, the history of the siege and getting across all the grim-darkness of the battle. And the ending.. "as usual at a staggering cost to itself, with nothing to show for that but another dead world.." I appreciate your content so much, can't wait for the next video - presumably after a good long rest!
This is one of my favorite videos by you Ian! I’ve watched this probably a dozen times since it came out. A true Comfort watch to enjoy while sitting back and digging into a siege
I don’t have the eloquence to give this work the credit it deserves. Outstanding Ian, the tone of your voice singing like one of the emperors angels, amazed and mesmerised at the same time. I salute you
They were a great counterpoint to the rest of the fiction. Whereas the 40k novels and general background are like watching a great war movie the Forgeworld books were like watching a really satisfying documentary like "The World at War".
A book series set during the siege of vraks would be amazing. Would also be a nice way, to give the faceless soldiers of the death corps more character
Honnestly I can see them doing an official novel book series on these with the rise of Krieg popularity especially with the recent Krieg book that explained their history and why their planet became said nuclear wasteland and gives you more details about their civil war
@@BestCupidThey won't do it unless there's a way to tie it to mini sales. That won't happen until the Krieg range is expanded and Traitor Guard become a range themselves.
The map at 34:46 fits so well to "ground was swimming with warbands not led by either Cardinal or Arkos" the map is like someone scattered markers to map in random.
I love that you manage to do these in a way that earnestly engages with the lore, but simultaneously recognizes that this is fiction, with themes and inspirations and varyingly obvious metaphors. Like, I enjoy hearing about 40K lore, but I think a pretty decent chunk of people treat it as inviolable descriptions of actual historic events, rather than made-up, occasionally arbitrary stories with retcons aplenty whose primary purpose is to build interest in a tabletop game.
Just so you know; at 24:02 that art by “Comrade Matt” has the Krieg regimental standard with the SS Totenkopf on it. Like the Krieg have some very, very specific imagery involved with them but even for them that’s *extremely* on the nose, and probably not the sort of incidental nazi iconography you’re looking to include in your fictional history video.
Virtue signal much? Skull and Bones iconography existed centuries prior to 1930s Germany dude. That dead regime copied and pasted other culture's iconography because they thought it looked cool and were too incompetent to create their own. Next you'll be demanding every movie with a pirate flag be removed from circulation.
AFAIK that's and old prussian hussar deaths head symbol. You can tell them apart by the presence or absence of the jawbone. The SS totenkopf has jawbones, while the prussian hussar does not.
Did some some research, and it seems like unfortunately this isn't a sure distinction between SS symbology and non SS symbology. The lower mandibles are not present on SS designs used from 1925 to 1934. SS absolutely had this symbol on their uniforms for nearly ten years. Luftwaffe and Panzer groups also made use of this symbol lacking the lower mandible later in the war. The symbol changed to include the mandibles later, but ultimately this symbol was definitely used by the murderous scum.
@@callusklaus2413 Sure, its not a 100% way to distinguish, but its good enough. The SS was just a simple bodyguard unit before 1933/34, and it switched to the deathshead with the jawbone when it transformed into the murderous military organisation thats well known. And as for the luftwafe and tank units. It was a normal thing for mechanized and airborne/air units to keep the tradition of cavalary units. In the case of the germans it was the black uniform with the jawless deathshead. Introduced by Frederick the Great in 1741. So, basically jawless deathshead: a german/prussian military symbol, that goes back hundreds of years, and could represent dozens or even hundreds of various military units form that timeframe. The grinning deathshead: definitely bad people.
This is awesome, please, don't be afraid to do longer videos, they are awesome! Just love your job! Thanks for all the content created over this years.
Absolutely staggering Ian, as always. We really appreciate all the effort you put into this; I can't wait to watch this again, with my dad while we paint some minis. You've really helped me reconnect with him by doing that together and seeing '1 Hour' as the runtime gave me more joy than I can express lol
What an epic retelling of an epic war, fantastic work here Ian. The Inquisitor 1v1ing a Bloodthirster is some cartoon nonsense, which feels at odds with the rest of the story - there's against the odds and there's against the odds! - but it is what it is. The sequence in the tunnels with the siege engineers had me thinking "at least they don't have to contend with the Berser - oh". The notion of trying to move through the dark, with only your lasgun-mounted flashlight for illumination, only to be met the revving of chainaxes and some sort of bellowed battle cry about a Blood God which is too deafening to even properly understand, is a whole new layer of horror beyond the trenches and the chemical attacks. Praise the Emperor and pass the meltagun.
To be fair, we’re talking an inquisitor who is a powerful psyker, armoured in artificer terminator armour and of such immense strength he can wield a two-handed greatsword in one hand, and a bloodthirster which had already been weakened by battle with the Grey Knights. It’s certainly still extremely implausible that he could beat a greater daemon of Khorne, but the narrative is definitely playing into that by portraying it as a superhumanly epic feat that makes Rex a legendary figure within the Inquisition. Crazy feats like this do pop up in real life wars too, and I think it helps that the narrative makes clear this is not something most inquisitors are capable of by having numerous other inquisitors get absolutely destroyed by the bloodthirster or by the great unclean one
I stopped collecting the Imperial Armour books back in the day after the first siege of Vraks volume. I was galled it was only a portion of the story and wasn't willing to fork out the ludicrous prices for them. Glad to get some closure on how it ended! This was a great video and Vraks really is an iconic 40k battle, but tbh, I prefer the Taros Campaign as a story. It has a more limited scope and neither side received reinforcements once the conflict began. Throughout the campaign, you're able to clearly track the forces involved, what tactics they're using, what the stakes are, and why it matters. As opposed to Vraks, which is just a lot of words saying "Tens of thousands of soldiers shot shells at each other for years. Eventually, they gained ten feet. Repeat." and only really gets interesting towards the end. I'm biased, though, as I find my interest in a 40K story is inversely proportional to how many space marines, of either camp, are involved. :p
Seriously mate, I bloody loved this! I like all your lore vids but this shows that you truly are capable of tackling some long ones. Please, more of this!
The first time I heard of this was from Adeptus Ridiculous. It was explained well, but it was hard to keep track of everything since it was over a podcast. You do a great job at the summary and using the maps and images to depict this awesome war of Hell incarnate.
I got into Warhammer right at the start of 4th edition and I started collecting Chaos for the first time right as Vraks was coming out. I was never able to afford those books, but spent a lot of time marveling at my friends’ copies and starring at the models on Forge World. They painted a picture of the 40K universe that I hadn’t really experienced yet at that time. It is forever a epic legend in my hobby journey and I’m grateful for your thorough account of it. Thank you for your fantastic work on this one Ian. You’re the best! I hope your busy period is going well!
I agree with the others asking for more long form, detailed videos from you. This sort of video is great for hobby sessions or while I'm doing house work. Great coverage as always bud.
The best video you have ever made Ian. And I’ve watched the vast majority! Superb Herculean effort here. Hugely entertaining, really enjoyed watching it. Chapeaux sir!
It's clear videos like these take a lot of work, but I really adore them. Fantasticly presented insight into the fictional history of 40k. Keep them coming please!
"Here come the Astartes!" "which ones?" "The red ones!" "Which ones??" "The loyalist ones!" "Which ones??!!" "The one who lost nearly half of the chapter in their last assault!" "WHICH ONES???!" must been an headace for the imperial officers.
This might be coming in several months after everything’s said and done, but I would throughly enjoy seeing a Ken Burns style documentary/mockumentary about all the moving parts surrounding the Siege of Vraks (not to mention the Siege itself) with you playing the part of the Ken Burns analogue, ArbitorIan. The politics, the socioeconomics, the maneuvering both on and off the field…throw in some VA work representing both sides of the conflict alongside staged miniature photographs of key figures/events and you’ve got something amazing!
Thank god for this video. I wanted to learn about the Siege of Vraks, but I didn't want to track down copies of the books or watch the videos done by *he who shall not be named*.
This channel has rapidly become one of my favourites. It's genuinely pretty unbelievable the quality and consistency of the work put out, every video is thoroughly enjoyable! Absolutely appreciate it. 🤘
Great stuff sir! This is something I've been familiar with in a 50k foot view sense (knew it was a thing, big war of attrition, etc) but I'd never heard the details. Really enjoyed it!
This video is GREAT! I purchased the Imperial Armour Compendiums right after I listened to it for an entire afternoon - over and over! Thank you for the great content!
The Siege of Vraks to me is the Imperium in a nutshell. Willing to waste millions of Guardsmen and thousands fighting vehicles, tens of millions of shells, warships, and anything else for essentially no gain. They got back a wasteland, the fortress destroyed and its stores of arms depleted by the defenders.
Love this video and the Imperial armour stories in general, they're so in-depth! Would you consider doing a video on the raid of kastorel novem? Elysian drop troops are my fave
Absolutely loved this, Ian, you're an excellent storyteller, so don't worry about how long your videos are. I could watch them all day. I look forward to the next one.
This video is probably my favorite 40k YT video of all time!!! Great narration, detail, visuals and expression. Thanks for taking the time to make a banger!✌🏻
Excellent work as always Ian! The fact this video is an hour when the history of the 40K universe video is significantly shorter tells you how storied the Siege of Vraks really was.
This war really does some up 40k brilliantly, what started as a civil war between different imperials and of the ecclesiarch dissolved into a terrible war against the forces of terror, with nothing gained and while was a victory it was a loss, and to think there must be countless similar wars fought across the galaxy
This war is made to be attritiously long and enduring. But it could have easily been curbed with a team of assassins and win. It could use Elysian drop troops with scion elites and win. It could do with some raven guard sub chapters to sneak and destroyed alone to win. It could do use some mantis astartes alone and win. But this is 40k and they want an excuse to draw out this shit.
Or better: - Its an armory world for Cadia, so Cadian regiments should guard it exclusively - The armory complex has a separated tall wall with the other sections - Due to its important, few Space Marines should be always on the citadel Then even entire planet rebelled, garrisoned troops can just close the gate and hold on years, if SM also present on the planet, they can easily stopped the momentum of rebels for Cadians to cleared it out
I quite literally just finished reading up on the Siege of Vraks for the second time yesterday. I vaguely remembered parts of it from when I first got into the hobby. It's the quintessential war for me in terms of describing the monumental amount of inefficiency and waste the Imperium considers to be acceptable when operating in large-scale conflicts.
You’ve met “meetings that should have been an email”, now meet “sieges that should have been an exterminatus”
Disagree, an Exterminatus would have been a gross missuse of vital war assets.
Giving the Vindicare Assassin strict instructions to only take the shot if he can utilize a shieldbreaker round would have been more than enough.
Sure, the cardinal would have had more time to build his forces, but it wouldn't have meant anything with the Cardinal ending up dead.
Would there have been anger at the Imperium due to this?
Sure, but without their spiritual leader the Vraksian forces would have inevitably devolved into infighting groups of zealots and opportunists, which then could have been taken care of through other means.
This would have also kept the majority of the wargear stockpiles filled and untainted.
@@AnonD38well, it's only about very early days of conflict, sure, but by the time of clear chaos corruption and very long siege, it was the best choice, though, like in real life, it would mean that all previously spent resources are wasted, which doesn't look good in reports.
@@gi1dor Also the use of Exterminatus was not considered as the Armories and Bunkers of the Citadel were built to withstand exterminatus class weaponry.
Realistically it would have only further empowering the Chaos worshippers by giving them millions if not billions of fresh sacrifices.
Comes in
Destroys a space port
Doesn't elaborate
Leaves
In my headcanon, they killed a Fallen, said their mission was destroying the Space Port and leaved to kill another Fallen
@@flaviomonteiro1414makes sense especially if said Fallen joined the Alpha Legion since Dark Angels came in to specifically kill them, destroy their space port and pissed off. Dark Angels are cool but still kind of a bunch of dickheads
Return
Kill
Capture
Interrogate
Darks Angels in nutshell
Fucking Chads
Common Dark Angels W
"We did it, Patrick. We saved Vraks."
"You REALLY are the Warhammer 40 Thousand!"
Kriegbob Siegepants.
You can tell how long this series is by the fact that Ian couldn’t get it under an hour.
Jovovich has been doing some phenomenal videos on it for the past couple years
A j
P
I swear if you skip through you can see his beard growing.
Yeah and then there are the people who absolutely refuse to leave out any minute detail and end up with a 40h long series.
(*cough* Arch *cough*)
Let's be real, who amongst us would not be willing to kickstart a chaos uprising to avoid being stuck in meetings every day till the end of your life
I've been trying to summon a Daemon since 2015 for this exact reason
I Hate how much I share this sentiment.
I work in a bar, everyday is a chaos uprising ;)
I mean, it's worth a go, but I'm pretty sure it's against Kickstarter's TOS...
Considering it...
Ian, I gotta say, the way you can bring a fictional war to life through narration is... frankly incredible. There are legitimate history shows about actual conflicts and events that actually happened that aren't this vivid.
Thanks!
@@ArbitorIan I can't but agree. There's a channel called the great war where one guy narrates and explains the entirety of the WWI week by week with many details and photo-video materials. This video reminded me of exactly that.
Me, as well. One of the few creators that can actually give me goosebumps talking about space men fighting unknowable horrors from beyond.
@@ArbitorIan Thank you!
Absolutely phenomenal work, Ian. Given the IMMENSE detail in those books, having an easier video to let people learn about this (imo) absolutely peak 40k tale is really really useful for ongoing fandom and community too rather than relying on innacurate wikis or out of print books. Doubly so as you focus rightly on that this isn't a "badass Death Korps" story like many portray it as. It's a story of abject failure, told properly here. Brilliant stuff.
This. Took. WEEKS!
@@ArbitorIan I mean not quite 18 years but i respect the effort
@@ArbitorIan How fitting for Vraks!
Any other guard regiment would have moped the fuck out to other war zones given the ungodly losses
@@Jedishill680As any sane regiment should have. The obsession with ponderous sunk cost fallacy is partly why Vraks got so bad in the first place by feeding the death on that planet.
Some people will disagree, but you can definitely do more long form lore videos! This was brilliant! You have a wonderfully calm and dignified manner of speech that makes for a smooth listen. Additionally, a concise video of the siege of vraks? That doesn't leave much out? In only a little more then an hour? Most fanatic 40k nerds couldn't do it (too many rabbit holes to go down). Please do more!
Important to point out that in the first edition of siege of vracks forgeworld didnt sell any alpha legion models so they arrived in ultramarine livery and you were supposed to have ultramarines facing of against the dark angels in the campaign battles. I have some ultramarines in my alpha legion warband for this reason with a little hydra on the back of their right leg as a friend/foe identifier
That's so cool
It is rare to see someone else use the Yellow Sign here.
Hail to the King.
Really wish 40k was still like this, with all the detail diagrams and in model pictures. Super grounded and unique
I mean that wasn't ever a quality of the main line 40K books. It was very unique to what Forge World was doing. I agree with the underlining sentiment, the Imperial Armour books were artistically fantastic.
I am routinely astounded at how well the story can be told when the narrator isn’t in love with their own voice and decides to make a 40 hour series out of it.
Half the lore channels use ai voices now 😂.
I think they are more in love with money and monetisation
@@StigPrice if AI can expedite the process and bring us more quality storytelling then more power to them. Although when all lore channels start using the same voices with the same inflections, the channels with a more personal touch will be the ones that gather the largest followings.
@@SentientMeatloaf1 spoken like a man who knows nothing about the TH-cam algorithm.
You nailed it.
And the battle was won, at the cost of 14 million lives and another dead world. Love how you put this together!
Is it just me or is 14 million too small
@@eshaanjain9379 Lol yeah, actual WW1 and the Spanish Flu right after killed more people. FW writers aren't the best when it comes to scale, then again, most people can barely visualize a thousand people
Way too small, 16 million were killed in WW1@@eshaanjain9379
@@eshaanjain9379 It's far too small, it has a lower casualty rate than a lot of battles in WW2
@@TheKsalad Yeah though tbf Vraks has a tiny population
More long-form lore videos like this, please!
I appreciate all the effort you must have put into this.
Probably the best example in 40k lore as to what warfare is like in 40k.
Just wished the numbers were increased to Trillions on both sides
@@christiandauz3742That's a... strange wish.
@@dekai7992
Vraks's death toll is half of WW1 despite lasting longer
Unrealistic
@@christiandauz3742 To get to casualty figures of 'Trillions on both sides', you're talking about like 'the Horus Heresy'. Pretty high on the scale, is the thing.
@@basedeltazero714
There are many Hive Worlds with Hundreds of Trillions of people during the Heresy
In one horrific incident the Alpha Legion unleashed a virus that kills plant life. 80 BILLION starved to death in the Issos Genocide
The Alpha Legion alone probably killed Two Trillion in the Heresy
Thank you for putting in so much effort, the maps really help with picturing what might have happened. As always the pacing and your delivery were incredible and easy to follow, even for a non-native english speaker.
I can also recommend the Vraks series of Janovich. It is longer tho (currently 2-3 hours or so its still not finished) because he goes into a little more detail and he has also animated maps. (But sadly no awesome Artwork or Dioramas in between)
@@EASY7356 cheers mate, I appreciate your suggestion!
Sometimes I watch youtube analysis of various real life historical battles and sieges, and Ian somehow makes a fictional one feel almost as real and dramatic. Which is also a credit to the source material I’m sure.
Love these videos.
It's also only really Imperial Armour that can do anything like that. Vraks is the prime example, while baseline GW campaign lack a lot of detail and sense
I have to say, Ian is one of the few 40k dudes I can easily listen to a for a whole hour without getting brainfog. Just a pleasant yet authoritative voice without any rambling on side points
This is a very cool summary... I loved creating and writing it...
Oh hi Warwick Kinrade! Thanks so much for these books (and all the others). Genuinely fun and also pleasingly bonkers.
Oh sweet, been waiting for this.
A city the size of Northumberland with a battle of massive scale. God, I hope this gets made into a series one day.
Theres a series already by Jannovich and the Vraks animation which is pretty well-made even though its only one episode
Man, given this and especially your Badab War coverage, it really seems like the Imperial Armor stuff from back in the day had the best material to do with wars in 40k. The combination of motivations, politics, complications, etc., like real wars have, make it so much more interesting than all the "Space Marines see evil, go to place, evil is big but they kill evil. Story over" that we so often get from 40k wars.
I just had to come back and say thank you to Ian. I've got a big interest in the First World War so naturally was drawn to factions like the Death Korps, and the Vraks campaign as it's just basically the Battle of Verdun, but 40k and with Demon Engines.
But, this was such an amazing breakdown of the lore, the history of the siege and getting across all the grim-darkness of the battle. And the ending.. "as usual at a staggering cost to itself, with nothing to show for that but another dead world.."
I appreciate your content so much, can't wait for the next video - presumably after a good long rest!
This is one of my favorite videos by you Ian! I’ve watched this probably a dozen times since it came out. A true Comfort watch to enjoy while sitting back and digging into a siege
I don’t have the eloquence to give this work the credit it deserves. Outstanding Ian, the tone of your voice singing like one of the emperors angels, amazed and mesmerised at the same time. I salute you
Im coming back like 4 months later - this is by far one of the best videos I have ever seen on TH-cam, bar none.
Great video, the Imperial Armour books had by far the best 40k lore ever written IMO
They were a great counterpoint to the rest of the fiction. Whereas the 40k novels and general background are like watching a great war movie the Forgeworld books were like watching a really satisfying documentary like "The World at War".
A book series set during the siege of vraks would be amazing. Would also be a nice way, to give the faceless soldiers of the death corps more character
Honnestly I can see them doing an official novel book series on these with the rise of Krieg popularity especially with the recent Krieg book that explained their history and why their planet became said nuclear wasteland and gives you more details about their civil war
@@BestCupidThey won't do it unless there's a way to tie it to mini sales. That won't happen until the Krieg range is expanded and Traitor Guard become a range themselves.
The map at 34:46 fits so well to "ground was swimming with warbands not led by either Cardinal or Arkos" the map is like someone scattered markers to map in random.
Videos like this are why I’m happy to be subscribed. It’s obvious that a phenomenal amount of effort went into this. Great stuff as always, Ian.
That’s my afternoon sorted 😂👍🏼
I love that you manage to do these in a way that earnestly engages with the lore, but simultaneously recognizes that this is fiction, with themes and inspirations and varyingly obvious metaphors.
Like, I enjoy hearing about 40K lore, but I think a pretty decent chunk of people treat it as inviolable descriptions of actual historic events, rather than made-up, occasionally arbitrary stories with retcons aplenty whose primary purpose is to build interest in a tabletop game.
Just so you know; at 24:02 that art by “Comrade Matt” has the Krieg regimental standard with the SS Totenkopf on it. Like the Krieg have some very, very specific imagery involved with them but even for them that’s *extremely* on the nose, and probably not the sort of incidental nazi iconography you’re looking to include in your fictional history video.
Virtue signal much? Skull and Bones iconography existed centuries prior to 1930s Germany dude. That dead regime copied and pasted other culture's iconography because they thought it looked cool and were too incompetent to create their own.
Next you'll be demanding every movie with a pirate flag be removed from circulation.
AFAIK that's and old prussian hussar deaths head symbol. You can tell them apart by the presence or absence of the jawbone. The SS totenkopf has jawbones, while the prussian hussar does not.
Did some some research, and it seems like unfortunately this isn't a sure distinction between SS symbology and non SS symbology.
The lower mandibles are not present on SS designs used from 1925 to 1934.
SS absolutely had this symbol on their uniforms for nearly ten years. Luftwaffe and Panzer groups also made use of this symbol lacking the lower mandible later in the war.
The symbol changed to include the mandibles later, but ultimately this symbol was definitely used by the murderous scum.
@@callusklaus2413 Sure, its not a 100% way to distinguish, but its good enough. The SS was just a simple bodyguard unit before 1933/34, and it switched to the deathshead with the jawbone when it transformed into the murderous military organisation thats well known.
And as for the luftwafe and tank units. It was a normal thing for mechanized and airborne/air units to keep the tradition of cavalary units. In the case of the germans it was the black uniform with the jawless deathshead. Introduced by Frederick the Great in 1741.
So, basically jawless deathshead: a german/prussian military symbol, that goes back hundreds of years, and could represent dozens or even hundreds of various military units form that timeframe. The grinning deathshead: definitely bad people.
This is awesome, please, don't be afraid to do longer videos, they are awesome! Just love your job! Thanks for all the content created over this years.
Easily one of your best videos so far. Didn't even notice it was 1 hour, honestly
Ian: Careful, it's a long one.
Me, a regular Leutin09 viewer: Two-hour video on bolters go brrrr!
Archoss the Faithless seems like an upstanding individual. We should allow him free reign to do as he pleases.
My wife: let's put some music on to set the mood.
Me: *eyes shift over to see an hour long siege of Vraks video* pressed play.
Absolutely staggering Ian, as always. We really appreciate all the effort you put into this; I can't wait to watch this again, with my dad while we paint some minis. You've really helped me reconnect with him by doing that together and seeing '1 Hour' as the runtime gave me more joy than I can express lol
What an epic retelling of an epic war, fantastic work here Ian.
The Inquisitor 1v1ing a Bloodthirster is some cartoon nonsense, which feels at odds with the rest of the story - there's against the odds and there's against the odds! - but it is what it is.
The sequence in the tunnels with the siege engineers had me thinking "at least they don't have to contend with the Berser - oh". The notion of trying to move through the dark, with only your lasgun-mounted flashlight for illumination, only to be met the revving of chainaxes and some sort of bellowed battle cry about a Blood God which is too deafening to even properly understand, is a whole new layer of horror beyond the trenches and the chemical attacks. Praise the Emperor and pass the meltagun.
Don't worry lads, we'll be fine. It's not like the enemy has specialist tunnel fighters.....
To be fair, we’re talking an inquisitor who is a powerful psyker, armoured in artificer terminator armour and of such immense strength he can wield a two-handed greatsword in one hand, and a bloodthirster which had already been weakened by battle with the Grey Knights. It’s certainly still extremely implausible that he could beat a greater daemon of Khorne, but the narrative is definitely playing into that by portraying it as a superhumanly epic feat that makes Rex a legendary figure within the Inquisition. Crazy feats like this do pop up in real life wars too, and I think it helps that the narrative makes clear this is not something most inquisitors are capable of by having numerous other inquisitors get absolutely destroyed by the bloodthirster or by the great unclean one
Ian, wow. What a labour of love. This was fantastic. Please consider doing more 👏👏👏
Fantastic, your recaps of these events are always so interesting to listen to.
This was a staggeringly awesome video in what is a very saturated market of Vraks content. Bravo Ian.
I stopped collecting the Imperial Armour books back in the day after the first siege of Vraks volume. I was galled it was only a portion of the story and wasn't willing to fork out the ludicrous prices for them. Glad to get some closure on how it ended!
This was a great video and Vraks really is an iconic 40k battle, but tbh, I prefer the Taros Campaign as a story. It has a more limited scope and neither side received reinforcements once the conflict began. Throughout the campaign, you're able to clearly track the forces involved, what tactics they're using, what the stakes are, and why it matters.
As opposed to Vraks, which is just a lot of words saying "Tens of thousands of soldiers shot shells at each other for years. Eventually, they gained ten feet. Repeat." and only really gets interesting towards the end.
I'm biased, though, as I find my interest in a 40K story is inversely proportional to how many space marines, of either camp, are involved. :p
Occasional long-form vids like this are a nice compliment to your shorter lore videos, great work!
Seriously mate, I bloody loved this! I like all your lore vids but this shows that you truly are capable of tackling some long ones. Please, more of this!
Moving maps was very helpful and illustrated the points and events.
Your channel is fast becoming my favorite 40k lore channel, love your narration style my man, hope theres more to come!
The first time I heard of this was from Adeptus Ridiculous. It was explained well, but it was hard to keep track of everything since it was over a podcast. You do a great job at the summary and using the maps and images to depict this awesome war of Hell incarnate.
Just finished watching every video on the channel. Took me two months. Amazing work
Amazing, thanks! There are probably things you missed though, I'd do it all over again. Maybe twice. 😬🤣
I got into Warhammer right at the start of 4th edition and I started collecting Chaos for the first time right as Vraks was coming out. I was never able to afford those books, but spent a lot of time marveling at my friends’ copies and starring at the models on Forge World. They painted a picture of the 40K universe that I hadn’t really experienced yet at that time. It is forever a epic legend in my hobby journey and I’m grateful for your thorough account of it. Thank you for your fantastic work on this one Ian. You’re the best! I hope your busy period is going well!
An epic for the ages! I thoroughly enjoyed the narration and graphics, thanks for all the effort you put into all of the minutiae.
Haven't even watched the video, but you're getting a like. Can't believe we get a 60min video on this - amazing as always!
I agree with the others asking for more long form, detailed videos from you. This sort of video is great for hobby sessions or while I'm doing house work. Great coverage as always bud.
Amazing!!!
The maps are just perfect in tracking the slogging stalemate.
Your videos can be 6 hours long and I'd still absorb every second of it. Love it. Love you. Keep being awesome.
Absolutely awesome documentary. Thank you for making this very jumbled an multi-layered event concise and easy to follow. Keep up the good work.
Great video Ian! Thank you for all the work you put into this!
Love this video. More long form content please! I know TH-cam doesn’t love it, but the way you present it is fantastic.
First it seemed warhammer channels were seeing how long they make the description of the seige, now it seems how short they can make it.
The best video you have ever made Ian. And I’ve watched the vast majority! Superb Herculean effort here. Hugely entertaining, really enjoyed watching it. Chapeaux sir!
It's clear videos like these take a lot of work, but I really adore them.
Fantasticly presented insight into the fictional history of 40k. Keep them coming please!
"Here come the Astartes!" "which ones?" "The red ones!" "Which ones??" "The loyalist ones!" "Which ones??!!" "The one who lost nearly half of the chapter in their last assault!" "WHICH ONES???!" must been an headace for the imperial officers.
Thank you for the deep dive!
This might be coming in several months after everything’s said and done, but I would throughly enjoy seeing a Ken Burns style documentary/mockumentary about all the moving parts surrounding the Siege of Vraks (not to mention the Siege itself) with you playing the part of the Ken Burns analogue, ArbitorIan. The politics, the socioeconomics, the maneuvering both on and off the field…throw in some VA work representing both sides of the conflict alongside staged miniature photographs of key figures/events and you’ve got something amazing!
Thank god for this video. I wanted to learn about the Siege of Vraks, but I didn't want to track down copies of the books or watch the videos done by *he who shall not be named*.
That was fantastic. I would really love to hear more of these style videos going over various campaigns
Can't wait to listen to this whilst painting my room
Oh hell yeah.
These are so good. I think I've run through your Badab videos at least four times.
Your work on the 30/40K universe is FANTASTIC and some of the best content available for newcomers like myself. THANK YOU
This channel has rapidly become one of my favourites. It's genuinely pretty unbelievable the quality and consistency of the work put out, every video is thoroughly enjoyable! Absolutely appreciate it. 🤘
Might be the best 40k lore video I've ever seen.
Watching (or rather listening as I work) this amazing video and one of my artworks pops up at 36:15 !
Truly the Emperor Protects
Outstanding video Ian!! I love these campaign videos! Keep them coming
Wow, that must have been hard work. Well done Ian, I really enjoyed that. Thank you :D
Great stuff sir! This is something I've been familiar with in a 50k foot view sense (knew it was a thing, big war of attrition, etc) but I'd never heard the details. Really enjoyed it!
Payday and a new Aribter Ian lore video? I'm so spoiled
God Emperor, these videos are so good. I love the way you articulate these stories.
Excellent video. I enjoyed every minute!
Great video and enjoyed the longer length format; you should do more long videos like this
This was absolutely incredible. Amazing work
This video is GREAT! I purchased the Imperial Armour Compendiums right after I listened to it for an entire afternoon - over and over! Thank you for the great content!
It is the best lore video of Vraks. Great work
The Siege of Vraks to me is the Imperium in a nutshell.
Willing to waste millions of Guardsmen and thousands fighting vehicles, tens of millions of shells, warships, and anything else for essentially no gain. They got back a wasteland, the fortress destroyed and its stores of arms depleted by the defenders.
Thanks so much for doing this, Ian! You're an absolute legend : D
Love this video and the Imperial armour stories in general, they're so in-depth! Would you consider doing a video on the raid of kastorel novem? Elysian drop troops are my fave
Amazingly told, kept me captivated throughout. Thanks Arbitor Ian!
Love your campaign videos like this, please do more in the future!
The effort to make this was commendable. Well done and thank you
Riveting from start to finish i couldnt stop watching, great stuff thank you Arbitor, subscribed.
Absolutely loved this, Ian, you're an excellent storyteller, so don't worry about how long your videos are. I could watch them all day. I look forward to the next one.
I love this universe so much. This is the third or fourth take on this battle I have listened to. You got a new sub
Thanks Ian.
I always wished you would cover this.
This is so nice.
This video is probably my favorite 40k YT video of all time!!! Great narration, detail, visuals and expression. Thanks for taking the time to make a banger!✌🏻
Absolutely incredible video thank you !
More long format content would be incredible !
Great video on my favorite 40k subject.
Excellent work as always Ian! The fact this video is an hour when the history of the 40K universe video is significantly shorter tells you how storied the Siege of Vraks really was.
This war really does some up 40k brilliantly, what started as a civil war between different imperials and of the ecclesiarch dissolved into a terrible war against the forces of terror, with nothing gained and while was a victory it was a loss, and to think there must be countless similar wars fought across the galaxy
This war is made to be attritiously long and enduring. But it could have easily been curbed with a team of assassins and win. It could use Elysian drop troops with scion elites and win. It could do with some raven guard sub chapters to sneak and destroyed alone to win. It could do use some mantis astartes alone and win. But this is 40k and they want an excuse to draw out this shit.
Or better:
- Its an armory world for Cadia, so Cadian regiments should guard it exclusively
- The armory complex has a separated tall wall with the other sections
- Due to its important, few Space Marines should be always on the citadel
Then even entire planet rebelled, garrisoned troops can just close the gate and hold on years, if SM also present on the planet, they can easily stopped the momentum of rebels for Cadians to cleared it out
this was so so so incredible thank you so much for making this!!!!
I quite literally just finished reading up on the Siege of Vraks for the second time yesterday. I vaguely remembered parts of it from when I first got into the hobby.
It's the quintessential war for me in terms of describing the monumental amount of inefficiency and waste the Imperium considers to be acceptable when operating in large-scale conflicts.
Thank you for this video. The amount of effort put into it was clearly tremendous, and I can see you took weeks to prepare it. A Krieg salute to you!