Anybody got any good recommendations for Black Library books (or even short stories or novellas) focused on, or at least involving, the Raven Guard?
Tried to get through Deliverance Lost when I was reading the Horus Heresy but couldn't manage it - that book's a dreadful slog. I enjoyed the Raven Guard's appearance in Cadian Blood - ADB can make anybody seem dope - but that's functionally a cameo.
Black Templars are a popular chapter, judging by all available metrics: this very subreddit has more subscribers than most faction-specific 40K subs, YouTube tutorials on how to paint Black Templars are frequently among various creators' most-viewed videos, and of course GW continues to support Black Templars players with their own exclusive line of models, something they wouldn't do if said models weren't selling.
And yet, if you check out weekly competitive stats, Black Templars consistently rank among the least-played factions at tournaments. We're not exactly S-tier so far in 11th, and definitely weren't in 10th, but this is a trend that goes all the way back to 9th and even 8th edition. Despite their 'casual' popularity, Black Templars have seemingly never been competitively popular, or at least haven't been in the past ~15 years.
Why not?