HELSREACH - Part 1: Prologue - A Warhammer 40k Story 

In no way endorsed by Games Workshop. Because they couldn't make something this good.

Grimaldus died in Helsreach. There isn't a specific point, not really. There's nowhere you can point to and say "this is where Grimaldus died". But he did, and in his place a new man was born. Illusions of his superiority dispelled, humbled by his experiences, tempered by his losses.

This is maybe the best prologue in movie history. I watched it at least 50 times already and sometimes shed a tear, due to it's epicness.

This might be the strongest intro to anything ever.

“I am pure.” You can literally see him smile when he says it. He sounds so happy to be who he is. Love this entire series. Well done. Well done.

Hearing the feelings and throughts of a chaplain facing death, makes the world so much real.

Author of those Space Marine model ports/reworks here - this is bloody amazing, like damn. I'm at a loss for words. I'm glad to see people are still finding those models useful. I've got much better ones coming out really soon though, but they're rigged to the same skeleton so they shouldn't cause any trouble animation-wise. Additionally, a helmet made to resemble Grimaldus' own will be included.

The Prologue is one of my top favourite parts of the series. Lost count how many times I replayed it.

I APPROVE OF THIS DEMONSTRATION OF THE EMPEROR'S WILL. GRIMALDUS IS A MODEL CHAPLAIN WHO ALL SHOULD HEED.

By the Emperor, this was phenomenal!

That "Armageddon" It just has so much weight and meaning, and much more for those who know its blood covered stories

I will die on this world. I cannot tell where this conviction comes from. Whatever birthed it is a mystery to me, and yet the thought clings like a virus, blooming behind my eyes and taking deep root within my mind. It almost feels real enough to spread corruption to the rest of my body, like a true sickness. It will happen soon, within the coming nights of blood and fire. I will draw my last breath, and when my brothers return to the stars, my ashes will be scattered over the priceless earth of this accursed world. Armageddon. Even the name twists my blood until burning oil beats through my veins. I feel anger now, hot and heavy, flowing through my heart and filtering into my limbs like boiling poison. My hands curl into fists. I am strong, born only to slay for the Emperor and the Imperium. I am pure, wearing the blackest of the black, trained to serve as a spiritual guide as well as a warleader. I am wrath incarnate, living only to kill until finally killed. I am a weapon in the Eternal Crusade to forge humanity's mastership of the stars. Yet strength, purity and wrath will not be enough. I will die on this world. I will die on Armageddon.

Impressive, you clearly put a lot of work into this and it shows. Well done!

Jonathan keeble is possibly my favorite narrator. He really set the bar with the audio book version of "Nemesis" from the Horus Heresy

This is how a trailer is supposed to be like. A taste, some info, no spoilers and an awesome score :D

Wow! This is amazing! Hope you do more 40k stuff :D

"I am a weapon- in the Eternal Crusade to forge humanity's mastership of the stars"

I keep rewatching this every few days. A masterpiece. _Its strength, purity and wrath will not be enough. I will die on this world. I will die... on Armageddon._

This MOVIE, the part 1 -10 were my first exposure to the Warhammer Universe...couldnt ask for a better Introduction to my new Obsession.

This voice actor is awesome

Been a great ride.

This is the sort of thing I've been dying to see ever since I first heard about the heroic villains of the Warhammer 40k universe. Thank you for this masterpiece.

Great work! Gave me chills.

Holy Emperor on a Mercedes Benz THIS IS FUCKING BRILLIANT!

I just checked and... still awesome... still... awesome...

Audio is so good.

Amazing, truly amazing. As a Templar player, i thank you for this awesomeness

By the Emperors toes, if GW takes this down I'll go on a holy crusade

Still coming back to watch the into, cause it that good

I have mentioned this before, and I feel no shame mentioning it again. This series moved me to tears multiple times. I can only hope you give this much love & passion to my beloved Blood Angels. I have been a fan of WH40K since the 80's. I does my heart good to see such dedication and life breathed into this amazing universe. I thank you for providing this beautiful homage to WH40K.

A perfect example of a trailer. You get a complete feel about the tone, the universe, the charcater...everything about Warhammer 40k.

Holy Emperor that is an awesome art style! Well done.

I really love the black and white style, it portrays the bleak ambient of the far future!

I absolutely love Dembski-Bowden. He is second only to Abnett but you can't really compare them as their style is very different.

1:04 - This is the moment I was hooked. That very name. That very imagery.

I don't even know where to begin praising this. It's awesome in every sense of the word.

just made the sign of the AQUILA... well done that man... .. .

Never knew I'd find my favorite 40k story to be more glorious than it already is. Emperor bless you.

This series of videos convinced me to splurge on the audiobook of Helsreach instead of just getting the paperback.

I watch this every other morning with my morning coffee. "I am pure, wearing the blackest of the black", at this point is like a half time inspirational speech to me.

enfin quelqu'un qui se rend digne de l'univers de warhammer 40 000. merci.

Now this is what I call a dedicated person that loves Warhammer 40k. Whoever you are, be you great or not, keep up the nice work and never stop doing what you are good at.

This gave me the shivers man. Magnificent art, sound and everything in between

This is absolutely incredible... the direction, the pacing, even the style (which i assume was opted for to reduce visual issues and keep up a frequent turn-out of episodes, which i'm so very grateful for) works really, really well... I'm honestly so excited for this series and apologize now for my lack of descriptive ability but this is just fucking amazing... absolutely fucking amazing. And to have achieved this single-handed... Outstanding effort Rich, truly amazing. This is a monumental achievement so far, a crowning example of the potential the 40k universe has and a defining statement of how a 40k story, when in the right hands, can be something truly special and a property that deserves far more attention as a visual medium. It is criminal that this series hasn't been viewed by far more people yet, hundreds of thousands of 40k fans who crave a series such as this as much as i did, and i shall not rest until it garners the views and attention it rightfully deserves. Thank you so very much for the time and work you have chosen to invest in this project so far and beyond. We, the lore-whore's, are incredibly grateful.

This might be a stock epic dark trailer track from audiojungle, but through this series it shall be henceforth known as the Helsreach theme.

Fething brilliant man. This is fantastic!

Machine God blesses you and your work.

Grimaldus sounds absolutely like he would be voiced by Simon Templeman (Kain from Legacy of Kain, Loghain in Dragon Age)

Awesome. In the original sense of the word. But one thing the descriptions in these are lacking. And that is the music tracks used. Especially in this one. Someone *WILL* tell me what the track in this is called, the Emperor demands it.

SONG=Dark Epic Cinematic Trailer by TM_Colors | AudioJungle

God fucking damn. This is brilliant. Truly awe-inspiring.

This should be on the BIG SCREEN

Exceptional work, using the audio book voice over was a brilliant plan.

Guess I'll sell my marines and start making a Black Templar army now

Sometimes I return here just to watch this prologue, is truly wonderful!

When I'm feeling down and a little wore out, I watch this and it pumps me right back up.

Watched it several times. 1:40 gives me goosebumps every single time

Well, if he dies, the Blood Ravens will take his things.

This is so damn epic, I watched the prologue 30 or 40 times easily already and I can't stop.

Easily the best Warhammer project ever done.

Finally something about dark templar , it not all about the ultramarines and the blood ravens you know.

Thank you. Incredible and inspirational interpretation of our much loved 40k. This is what we want. The ultra marine movie is so sterile and misrepresents the dark future of only war. So well done. More please haha!! "For the Emperor"

Me and my buddies when a mild inconvenience occurs.

WOW. This is absolutely fantastic. Thanks to MajorKill on the shot out sending me here.

Every. Single. Shot. This prologue sends absolute chills down my spine. A Chaplain, the most staunch spiritual leaders of the Astartes comes to peace with the fact that even though he is a genetically modified super soldier he is still mortal. Absolute fucking chills. Although it's a generic licensed 'epic' music piece, it's used so perfectly it doesn't matter- it is perfect. Every shot looks like a beautiful rotoscoped masterpiece showing the frayed visions of Grimaldus' haunted memory. Every single lingering second of these two minutes and thirty-four seconds is excellently executed to the Hollywood standard. If i saw this in a movie theatre, I wouldn't question if it was made by an acclaimed director. Richard Boylan absolutely encapsulated every 40k Nerds fantasy in two hours and thirty minutes. THIS is the standard. THIS is the absolute template from which any 40k film should follow. It is perfection considering the tools he had to work with, completely without aid of GW. I really don't think I'm stretching to say we're witnessing the birth of a legend. From here on 40k shall have a golden standard to measure up to. It is absolutely incredible and no amount of words in a RU-vid comment can capture the sheer glory this love letter to Warhammer has managed to pack in to a two hour and thirty minute delight.

This is art. I love it. You need to make an entire movie like that!

You can have my purity seal of approval, monumental work!

I have shown this video to so many people and every single time I visit this page to get the link I have to watch this prologue all the way though. It's just all so damn good! Also, this video so far has had a 100% success with everyone I've shown it to to getting them hooked to it! Boylan, you madlad, you truly are a Man of the Ages.

Just watched part x and the whole series is a fantastic endeavour. My only criticism (and I expect I'm in the minority here) is I actually prefer the art style from part one then the full colour version for the final episodes. In my opinion the original art style captured the flavour of 40k in a more proactive and effective way. That minor point aside I'm impressed with the whole production and I'm looking forward to the Blood Angels series that will be coming out.

This video made me have a new found love for the Black Templars.

Imperator vult!

No Pity! No Remorse! No Fear!

Next should be Horus Rising!

YESSS! I see the finale is out, and so I start the series over. This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen, GW would charge $50 for a DVD of this and you post it for free. This needs more exposure! Thanks for making and sharing for free.

This artstyle fits 40k perfectly

1:50 and on, though it's all great, is my favorite part. The way the music and the pans are done is god tier.

This series was great. I do wish you would have kept this art style all the way through.

Holy fucking Christ this is metal as fuck.

Always come back here for this inspiring intro. Easily one of the best intros I’ve ever seen. Hype

this really made me want to get working on my own Templars again - gave me the chills! Bloody awesome! =D

Insane, I love it!

This is so amazing!

this is incredible, absolutely fantastic can't wait to see more

Its epic and awesome. Thanks. Can someone tell me about music?

I must have seen this a hundred times by now. Every time I get chills. The music, the transitions, the imagery. Holy shit.

Holy hell. Great work!

Amazing work, can't wait for the next episode !

Honestly outstanding. Looking forward to part 2!

Wow! I'm amazed! Please make more of these!

This is truly amazing work Richard. This is by far the BEST WH40K artistic/movie/anime work so far-The Emperor approves!

Awesome, I look forward to the next installment.

Cant wait for the rest. it gives me the chills to wach

All these videos are incredible! Excellent work man, pls make more!

i have missed this series for so long near 1 year!! great job

Amazing work. I look forward to watching your full series

I have watched this so many times, it's always as good !

holy shit, can't wait for part 2. really enjoy it so far

Simply amazing!! Pls continue to work on this!!

I will post this on every Helsreach video, so you will be able to see it. Helloo Richard! (In Andrejs voice and manner) Reading books, listening to them, watching movies, playing video games, we experience a story which might be different if you watch it after you have read a book. Even though when people read book and then watch a movie, there is a chance that you might get conflict of how you imagined story and characters from reading the book vs how it is represented on movie or perhaps a video game. But I know that, with this movie of yours, there would be no conflict if I have read book first.. its that good. Its an art, not money grabber thing. I have watched it and loved it. Looked at every detail, expression, the angles, the way you presented the story, you animation skills, music, the whole black/white theme that demonstrated someones emotional&spirit state and then change to colorful when fighting started... I can go on so, congratz man, this movie of yours and everything in it, is perfect. The choice for Grimaldus voice actor is so fitting, like Robert Downey is for Iron Man. And for every other character, Aaron have nailed the voice choice. Andrej voice with that Russian accent, noice. Just noice. For me, Grimaldus is what a real Chaplain is, leader not boss. Someone who I would fight alongside with. With this movie you have showed that even though space marines are super soldiers, they are still humans and have heart. That even with Black Templars which are fearsome and fearless warriors you have showed that they care and love their brothers, that they aint heartless. You showed that Imperial Guard even without enchanments, they are fearless as much as Astartes. You showed reality in warfare with all those meetings and preparations that they had, that even if Grimaldus is Reclusiarch, someone who leads and inspires people, he let anger flow through him few times, yet as time passed on, he conquered that. You showed that even in grim dark universe of 40k, there is light, there is hope and that there is love. You showed what brotherhood really is and made some man shed a real tear. You touched my heart with this movie. I can go on an on with all of this, but RU-vid will not let me post comment with that many characters. You havent wrote the book but what you did is you presented this story perfectly. Your animations might not be as one the Marvel has (fancy and shiny) but they are very good and I like them(really, you are good with them), you are one man army, this was done with love and hard work. Thank you for this Richard.

The best is yet to come