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Warpath: First Strike
When a backwater world is invaded by ruthless aliens, the Drakenhof Corporation’s best marines are sent to repel them. But they are not the only interested parties, and the Council has also sent Lieutenant Commander Roca of the Enforcers to investigate. Why has Acreon been targeted by the Veer-myn? And what secrets are hidden beneath the planet’s surface that, if uncovered, could threaten the stability of the galaxy itself?
- GenresScience Fiction
273 pages, ebook
Published January 1, 2016
3 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 24, 2020
Over my decades of gaming, I've read dozens of game-related novels. The vast majority are pure rubbish. First Strike is thankfully, not rubbish. It won't win any awards for originality or creativity. But it's well paced, and wisely edited. It explains the Warpath Universe without droning exposition, and that's very welcome.
March 31, 2020
Based on Mantic Games "Warpath" game, this is similar in style to many 40K novels. Somewhat unfairly, you can't help but compare the two.
Marines (Imperial Guard) versus Veer-Myn (Skaven) but there's more going on behind the scenes and a small group of Enforcers (Space Marines) are on hand to investigate.
In itself, this is a decent novel and has a lot going on in between the battle scenes. The Veer-Myn have the more unusual units/soldiers, and some pretty nasty weaponry. The Enforcers are a very small scouting mission, so don't overpower the story as the Marines take the brunt of the fighting.
A few twists along the way make for some surprises and possibly point to what might come in later books. I would like to read more books in this series.
Currently (March 2020), this is a free download from the Mantic site to help people staying at home. Only in PDF format, but was OK on my Amazon Fire.
Marines (Imperial Guard) versus Veer-Myn (Skaven) but there's more going on behind the scenes and a small group of Enforcers (Space Marines) are on hand to investigate.
In itself, this is a decent novel and has a lot going on in between the battle scenes. The Veer-Myn have the more unusual units/soldiers, and some pretty nasty weaponry. The Enforcers are a very small scouting mission, so don't overpower the story as the Marines take the brunt of the fighting.
A few twists along the way make for some surprises and possibly point to what might come in later books. I would like to read more books in this series.
Currently (March 2020), this is a free download from the Mantic site to help people staying at home. Only in PDF format, but was OK on my Amazon Fire.
May 5, 2025
Finished it in an afternoon - completely fine book. Don't bother buying it, it's not really worth your time unless you're obsessed with Warpath for some reason.
Warpath is of course the cheap knock-off of 40k, and I hadn't the faintest idea that Mantic were ever producing novels for it - though it stands to reason we should get a cheap knock-off of Black Library too. This is comparable to a lot of the worse BL books, including the utter lack of care in editing ("one more to do deal with" is a wonderful hacked-up-and-not-repaired sentence from the closing chapter of the book - the word "thing" clearly having been shot off in the climactic action).
The plot is compelling enough and got me to finish it. It's your usual slop military SF (the Enforcers are literally just Spartan/Space Marine stand in du jour) with a hackneyed setting (corporate America iN sPaCe) but it's fun enough. I don't regret my time spent reading it or the small donation to charity that acquired it :)
Warpath is of course the cheap knock-off of 40k, and I hadn't the faintest idea that Mantic were ever producing novels for it - though it stands to reason we should get a cheap knock-off of Black Library too. This is comparable to a lot of the worse BL books, including the utter lack of care in editing ("one more to do deal with" is a wonderful hacked-up-and-not-repaired sentence from the closing chapter of the book - the word "thing" clearly having been shot off in the climactic action).
The plot is compelling enough and got me to finish it. It's your usual slop military SF (the Enforcers are literally just Spartan/Space Marine stand in du jour) with a hackneyed setting (corporate America iN sPaCe) but it's fun enough. I don't regret my time spent reading it or the small donation to charity that acquired it :)
December 27, 2025
It gets better as it progresses! This was my first Sci-fi war read and it was enjoyable. The first third dragged, and I quickly learned to gloss over all the weapon jargon. Once you start getting view points from more than just the Marines and a larger picture starts to form…a super fun read. There were quite a few errors that should have been caught in editing, but nothing to the point where I would DNF. I would definitely read the second book to find out what happens but don’t know that I would recommend the book to anyone as I’m sure it’s rather generic as far as space marine books go.
October 31, 2017
Really enjoyed it.
Didn't realise it was a series following a Tabletop game, similar to Black Library's books, until half way through.
Certain things, like the individual factions and equipment were lost on my because of my lack of knowledge of the game but it didn't hinder me all that much.
The story is easy for anyone to follow but keeps you turning the page to solve the riddle.
Didn't realise it was a series following a Tabletop game, similar to Black Library's books, until half way through.
Certain things, like the individual factions and equipment were lost on my because of my lack of knowledge of the game but it didn't hinder me all that much.
The story is easy for anyone to follow but keeps you turning the page to solve the riddle.
April 26, 2019
Loved this book. A real page turner that had some nice character development and a twisting plot that kept you guessing as to what was going on. Up there with some of the best Black Library on my opinion
April 20, 2020
I really enjoyed reading this. Nice welcome to Mantic's literary universe.
The comparison with the Warhammer 40k novels is mandatory and I prefer Warpath's line, because stories are more human scaled and the setting is more sci-fi flavoured rather than mythological.
The comparison with the Warhammer 40k novels is mandatory and I prefer Warpath's line, because stories are more human scaled and the setting is more sci-fi flavoured rather than mythological.
July 1, 2020
Since I regularly play Deadzone, this was a great way to learn more about the universe and story behind the models. There were some great battle scenes but as always, I wish there was more.
January 9, 2025
Throughly enjoyable read giving a great background to the characters throughout and with plenty of well written action and suspense.
December 20, 2016
A great introduction to the Mantic Warpath universe. The story goes from a squad sized Deadzone encounter to a Star Saga buddy adventure to all out war in a clever and fun tale. Anyone interested in the Mantic sci-fi games need to read this book!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews