REVIEW: The Purging Of Kadillus by Gav Thorpe

  Hey everyone, CrazyRedPraetorian here with a book review of the latest tales of the Squats!

……err, I mean Dark Angels. The newest offering by Gav Thorpe is part of the “Space Marines Battles” series – each focussing on a single important action from the glorious history of the big Astartes chapters. As the title says Gav’s latest features the tale of the Purging of Kadillus. The prominent Dark Angels characters are Captain Belial and Veteran Sergeant Naaman. This book should also appeal to fans of the Deathwing, Ravenwing, Squats (…um, Demiurge), and Orks.

The story opens with an Ork raid on a Squat….I mean Demiurg mining facility. Ghazghkull Thraka is leading the attack and he runs into……some more orks! Ghaz and this other Warboss, Nazdreg decide to go cause mischief elsewhere.

The tale then takes us to the world of Piscina IV and the Battle for Kadillus where the Dark Angels of the 3rd Company are having a hard time holding the xenos at bay. Each chapter focuses on a different front in the battle and it covers the diversity of the Dark Angels special units.

The book itself is written in the style of the men’s adventure paperbacks of the 70s and 80s, – a very simple read squarely focusing on action over storytelling. However, like those old paperbacks it is a fun, easy read. I enjoyed this book. However, I was bothered by the lack of detail in some sections and the occasional inconsistency. Minor gripes, but there they are.



With the recent FAQ on the Dark Angels I’m sure there will be plenty of newly energized fans wanting to pick this one up. It was certainly not the type of book to hold up to something like Abnett’s Prospero Burns, but it was fun indeed!

Now Go Roll Some Dice!!!

CRP