(Image - Dark Future graces the cover of White Dwarf 103, July 1988. This shows a gangcult car speeding forward armed with spikes while an armed warrior pokes out of a shooting position on the car.)

In this follow-on article I’m going to look at another fan-theory; that the Dark Future universe and the 40K setting are part of a connected multiverse. Before I dive in this concept regarding Dark Future, the idea of multiverse is a very old concept, possibly going back as far as the 6th century CE. It is also a concept that Games Works has explored before too. It was possibly hinted as with Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. Here’s a quote from the draft text of the book on this point:

[There are] fan-rumors that the settings were much more directly connected than just in theme, that actually Warhammer Fantasy Battle’s hero Sigmar was one of the lost Primarchs from 40K and thus the Warhammer Fantasy world was but one planet into the wider SF universe. (It’s a cool idea but, as I understand it, not cannon.) But there are clearly more than just themes shared between SF and fantasy; the four chaos powers are shared beings between games, as developed in the two classic Realm of Chaos books. More than that there’s also times when stories have emerged that seem to connect both settings.

There was one issue of White Dwarf that hinted at, well, something tangible? White Dwarf 108 from 1988 had a WFRP adventure in it, ‘Terror in the Darkness’ which had the player characters descending into a mine to investigate reports that it was haunted by a strange creature. SPOILER from here onwards if you want to play this adventure, stop reading now! For that creature that turns out to be an Ambull! Ambulls are a monster type from 40K Rogue Trader. According to the text of the adventure, the Ambull appeared via a one-way warp gate from a future time and place, that being the death world Lucifer McIntyre IX. This hints at a connection, but also – the warp – by its very nature deceives us!

They also explored the idea via the classic game Talisman (of which you can get the digital version here!) with the ‘Talisman Realm’ where the Fury of Dracula setting appears in the Talisman setting, which is very cool. (Talisman is a topic I’ll explore here more too! So make sure you’re subscribed!)

Which neatly brings us back into the way some theorised that the Dark Future setting was connected to the Warhammer 40,000 setting, not as the same world at different points in time but as a dimensional multiverse co-existing.

(Image - Top to bottom, left to right; A renegade gangcult vehicle, cops and a die-cast car, SWAT team members, a Sanctioned Op Jonny ‘Reb’ Johnson depicting the flag of the loser side of the ACW & three chaos cultists. Source: White Dwarf 105/Fluffenhammer)

Theory 2 - Dark Future is another dimension connected to the 40K universe...

Might the 40K universe be another dimension connected via the warp to the Dark Future world? So all the above is key (sharing warp-space being the most key) to this theory.

In the novel Golgotha run there is a ‘lost’ UFO spaceship buried under the earth;

“In any event, the thing we’re calling the Artefact was discovered some time during our planet’s history by one of these Factions, here in its chamber on Earth. Ever since then it’s been guarded and protected, kept in reserve for some grand strategic move or other a couple of thousand years down the line – so far as here and now we reckon time. But why, and more importantly,how is it here? Is it, as one particular Faction believes, a gift from some ancient alien culture? Or an ancient alien culture in its entirety as another believes? Or is it, in the end, nothing more nor less difficult and complicated than a Ship? The space-going equivalent of an aircraft carrier, from what I’m told, designated by a name that comes out in the translation as Hammer of God or some such.”

The ship is called ‘Hammer of God’ written in a language that is not English (Is it High Gothic?) which might be a mistranslation of Deamonhammer in 40K (and is the name of a forge in Warhammer.) But it could also be a reference to a a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke.

Could the dissolution of time/space within the warp (“Time had no meaning in the Darkness...”) mean this spacecraft was a ship lost in the 40K dimension which has re-materialised, dead, in the Dark Future universe? This could explain why Khorne and Nurgule, are referenced the Dark Future setting.

Who can say?

There’s also a couple of bits from the video game that I’m sure are totally coincidental. One is that the ingame ISP that the player uses to access their data is run by ‘‘Telecom Zurich Holdings’ ISP’ - TZH-ISP (top-left in the image below) Is there an echo of the Tzeentch logo in the TZH logo? Who can say.

(Image - Screenshot from the video game version of Dark Future.)

(Image - Top is a close-up of the top-left of the screenshot from the video game version of Dark Future, below the Tzeentch logo.)

Meanwhile some of the news ticker items in Dark Future video game also seem to hint at a connection? Here’s an example item of news:

Cheap “meat” has hidden cost - vegetarian substitute rumoured to be linked to shocking medical issues!

A manufacturer of animal product alternatives for low-income vegetarians has removed its products from store shelves amidst claims of strange side effects after being eaten.

Lawyers representing a number of citizens have claimed their clients suffered temporary insanity due to chemical poisoning, after committing seemingly random violent acts shortly after eating Khorn® products.

A spokesperson for the manufacturer - Khorn Enterprises®, who produce Khorn Burgers®, Khorn Sausages®, and Khorn Mince® among other foodstuffs - declined to comment when asked by ZBC® if consumption of its products was linked with heightened aggression and violent impulses, and if this was the reason for the removal from sale.

(Image - Top to bottom, left to right; Early GW studio prototype of an Interceptor car, two images of the Spiders from mars renegade paramilitary gangcult, Skull & Crossbones Interreceptor, Wheel flames design, another early studio prototype of an Interceptor car. Source: White Dwarf 105/Fluffenhammer)

Thanks for reading!
(Any future Dark Future themed articles will go here!)

Links of Note:

• Remember When Games Workshop Made Mad Max? | Dark Future History

• Dark Future: Blood Red States with Graeme Davis & Auroch Digital | Steam Digital Tabletop Fest

• Oldhammer Fiction Podcast (covers Dark Future too!)

• Apparently your fandom is about to fall and die. Except it’s not.

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

(Image - Dark Future graces the cover of White Dwarf 102, June 1988. The driver of a vehicle looks panicked as an armoured vehicle barrels towards him.)

So what is Dark Future? It is a 1988 tabletop car combat game where the player controls cars that battle on the highways of a climate-ravaged, post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk, hyper-corporate America. It is an alternative world where different choices made back in the 1950s that led to most of the US becoming a Mad Max-esque wasteland (aka the ‘NoGo’) while a few luxurious and hedonistic cities (aka PZs or ‘Patrolled Zones’) exist for the rich and powerful.

Now first I should note that there is no official link between 40K and Dark Future, so all of what follows is more having some fun spotting bits of connection. Some have suggested links, as one of the designers remarked; “Initially, no link was planned between the Dark Future setting and the Warhammer/WH40K mythos. This changed around 1990 when the first Dark Future novels appeared, with some stories featuring demons based on Realm of Chaos.”

So as I see it there are two fan theories. I’ll cover the first here and the second in the follow-on post.

Theory 1 - Dark Future is the past of Terra 40,000 years before...

So, if Dark Future is earth circa now (set in the future of 1995 in the original game, updated when the novels were re-issued and for the game too) where perhaps we see the very first whispers of some of the core tenets of the Warhammer 40K world emerge?

Chaos/Warp Powers

In Dark Future the laws of physics that had once been so immutable were starting to fall apart. Something supernatural is emerging. So, is this the first stirrings of what would by the 31st millennium manifest fully as chaos/the warp? This quote from the novel ‘Demon Download’ hints that perhaps it is; “Father O’Shaughnessy presented a paper charting the increasing instance of physical anomalies and the apparent break-down of the laws of physics, and dropped a few dark hints about the eternal balances of space and time and their possible fragility.”

(Image - The three original covers of the Dark Future novels by Jack Yeovil. Note the Khorne-like being from front of novel Demon Download)

Chaos Beings

Not only is physics falling apart but malign intelligences seem to be existing within this disruption... This quote is also from the novel ‘Demon Download’ - where one of the characters has a revelation and notes a big list of the strange beings that might be individual entities or might be manifestations of the same beings; Note Nurgle & Khorne in the list (emphasis mine);

“The old superstitions were wrong, Duroc knew now. Salt had no power against the Devil and all His works. Nor against Angra Mainyu, Loki, Pluto, Nyarlathotep, Ba’alberith, the Great God Boga-Tem, Pan, Damballah, the King in Yellow, Susanoo, the Deathbird, Aipalookvik, Baron Samedi, Nurgle, Pazuzu, Zalmoxis, Huitzilopochtli, Mosura,Anubis, Set, Quetzalcoatl,Vodyanoi, Rawhead, Hiranyakasipu, Lukundoo,Yog-Sothoth, the Yama Kings of the Chinese Hell, Ramboona, Klesh, Arioch, Damballah, Khorne or the others. All the demons, all the Gods of Death and Evil, all the cast-out angels. All would walk soon upon this white expanse, trampling the old saws, the old religions, the pale and sickly gods of milky feebleness, under their clawed, leathery, horned, scaly, slimy and hairy feet.”

And those beings seem to be made of warp-like substance - also from Demon Download, “She beheld the true face of the fiend. It wasn’t anything, just a formless crawling chaos, crawling and writhing.”

There is also this quote from the novel Golgotha Run;

“Hauled him, the creature, on its line, towards its mass. In human terms, in waking terms, the bulk of it would have been miles across. A seething chaos of forms and textures that suggested some weird mix of corruption and clockwork, bone cogs and escarpments ticking through a black and churning mass of diseased bile.”

(Image - More Dark Future art by Les Edwards. A couple of Sanctioned Ops and their vehicles, are ambushed by a gangcult.)

Chaos Followers

So not only do chaos powers emerge but they also influence humans to worship and fight in their name. In Dark Future we see the emergence of ‘gangcults’ a mix of a gang and a cult. Below is from the original Dark Future rule book - note the Chaos undivided symbols on the gang cult members below.

(Image - A screen grab of the Dark Future rulebook. You can get the PDF of this if you get the Develop Archive of Dark Future Blood Red States!)

The Battle of Chaos vs Order

I’ve written a lot about how chaos is a key part of the Warhammer settings. This grand battle played out in the 40K universe has echoes in Dark Future too. For example, this quote from the novel Krokodil Tears, “Time had no meaning in the Darkness, but the entire span of terrestrial history was but a brief armistice in the war between the Three Shades of Dark and the forces of Nullification.”

(Image - A gangcult ‘preacher’ exhorts the members, from Dark Future original manual. Get the PDF of this if you get the Develop Archive of Dark Future Blood Red States)

More to come in the next part of the series.

Thanks for reading!

Links of Note:

• Lewis Davies, the creator of the excellent Oldhammer Fiction Podcast is voicing this Fighting Fantasy project!

• Dark Future on Steam

• Remember When Games Workshop Made Mad Max? | Dark Future History

• Oh and: The Oldhammer Ficion Podcast has read some Dark Future stories

• TTRPG news - check out the Merryshire Detective Club

• Space Marine 2 has a huge update out

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

Here’s the entry in the book on White Dwarf 110 from the timeline of creation of Rogue Trader:

February and WD 110, with its amazing cover of Space Marines by Wayne England, expanded on Ogryns, one of the abhuman factions that were part of the Imperial Guard at the time. It also featured an advert for the Imperial Guard plastic boxed set, as available early 1989 with its Napoleonic cover by John Blanche.

Why is it key? In this issue we see the expanding empire of Games Workshop - more content on 40K Rogue Trader, Adeptus Titanicus, Dark Future and more. It feels like a company really finding its stride.

Here’s an image from that issue’s article on Ogryns that is a personal favourite:

(Image - Ogryn about to demolish an Eldar jet-bike. From White Dwarf issue 110, page 17.)

Let us take a look at the issue:

A few links and notes that arise of out the issue (and video above)

• Fan theory that Dark Future is the start of the 40K universe.

• Dark Future: Blood Red States (video game version)

Note that Terminator Armour did not start in WD 110, but in WD 108 (more here.) I say at the end of the video that vehicles, as in kits for them, are not really a part of Warhammer 40,000 much yet. But we’d had Rhinos appear in WD 103 from July 1988 and Land Raiders in WD 105. So they were becoming so!

Thanks for reading!

(Image - Rear of White Dwarf 110 showing two vignettes of Imperial forces and scratch-built armoured vehicles.)

Links of Note:

• Great Reddit thread on how to get into Warhammer

• Lore of the Exodites

• My video game development newsletter has a new article up

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

(Image - A Greek hoplite warrior from Warhammer Ancient Battles.)

One of the things I think key to understanding Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader is that many of the key creatives were steeped in the past; they were graduates with history degrees, they played historical wargames, they loved old myths and legends and, in some cases, they worked at museums. Here’s a draft quote exploring this key aspect from the book:

This breadth of interest is highlighted by one of the original designers of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Graeme Davis, “There was a great correlation between role playing writers of that time and people who had archeology degrees. I did, Rick [Priestley] did, Nigel Stillman [co-author of ‘Waaargh the Orks’ with Bryan Ansell amongst other titles], Graham Morris who stayed at TSR also did and the rest of the crew were self-taught histories because they had started with historical wargaming. But Rick and I used to tease each other because he was a mediaeval specialist whereas I was a prehistorian”

Noted miniature sculptors Alan and Michael Perry remarked, “We have a passion for military history and love to recreate it.” Warhammer commentator Lewis Davis in his Old Hammer Fiction Podcast notes that the Waaagh Da Orks 40K book - as written by Nigel Stillman and Bryan Ansell - feels very archaeological in its approach, dissecting the religious practices, building design - and noted that for him centering the book around communal waste dumps was interesting, “Certainly the idea of a society that centres its community around the communal waste facilities is one that would appeal to an archaeologist as it is the midden that usually has all the interesting stuff in it”

While much of this interest was expressed through formal education such as the completion of degrees, it was not exclusively done that way, for example John Blanche’s work as a graphics assistant for a museum also impacted his artistic work, “My main duties included making these display boxes, putting artefacts in them, and building up the graphics around them, filling out information and stuff.” (Wombat & Moreira 2023:54) This anecdote shows that he was already thinking in that historical depth in his work, rooting his imagery in the context and setting and opening windows into a deeper lore. John has spoken in numerous interviews of how historical influences were always abound in his work, informing the process and how many designs and colour schemes of units and regiments. For example commenting in an interview in response to a question on one of his favourite paintings, ‘Battle of Alexander at Issus’ from 1529 by Albrecht Altdorfer. John’s commentary on it shows the potency that history - both of art and itself - has on his work, “But look at it, it just sticks out. The painting is incredible. A real battle going on, thousands upon thousands of troops, and I think to myself – wow, that guy has painted all of that.” The painting, Battle of Alexander at Issus, is a dense image of hundreds and hundreds of soldiers dressed in contemporary, to the painting date, uniforms. These soldiers are involved in a bitter struggle as the neat formations at the top of the battle begin to give way to a chaotic melee towards the bottom of the painting. You can see the echoes of it in some of John’s earliest commercial work, such as his painting ‘The Battle of Five Armies’, originally published in Mitchell Beazley Publishers back in 1979.

(Image - Detail of the painting ‘The Battle of Alexander at Issus’ by Albrecht Altdorfer from 1529. This shows the Persian king Darius in a chariot being faced by the Macedonia King Alexander against a backdrop of massed fighting men. Source - Wikipedia.)

Alexander the Great was very familiar with both the Iliad and the Odyssey, indeed he carried an annotated copy of the Iliad with him on campaign. Alexander was born in 356 BCE, around 500 years after the start of what is called the Archaic Greece period (starting around 800 BCE) which lasted until the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BCE. Which is the period when the Iliad and the Odyssey would have been written down, but it was recalling an earlier Bronze Age period, known as the Mycenaean Period with a mix of historicity and myth.

(Image - A bronze-age work from Greece known as ‘The Mask of Agamemnon’ from the period The Iliad and The Odyssey was written about. Photo by author.)

So it is no surprise that references to this period show up all over the setting - both in direct reference and in less direct references. Looking at less direct conenctions, I’ve documented the connection of the Ancient Greek concept of ‘Chaos’ to the overall development of chaos in literature and then gaming.

Many ancient cultures including the Greeks, Romans, Babylonians and Persians all had these concepts within their cosmologies. Sitting with the ancient Greeks for a while;

‘Chaos came first,’ says [the ancient Greek poet] Hesiod (Theogony 116). This is the first recorded use of the Greek word chaos. We don’t really know what it means, so we simply transliterate the Greek. The word is related to the Greek verb meaning ‘to gape’ or ‘to be open’, and to the noun meaning ‘chasm’. For Hesiod, Chaos is a giant yawn, a dark chasm full of emptiness. (Lawrence 2005: Loc 1277 - Lawrence C (2025) Pantheon: An Illustrated Handbook to the Greek Gods & Goddesses. London: Ilex Press.)

Of course there is no shortage of ancient Greek references in 40K; Space Marine chapters such as Sons of Medusa, The Minotaurs & Iron Snakes. The Iron Snakes chapter hail from the homeworld of Ithaka, which echos Ithaca a Greek Island that legend tells of the home island of the hero Odysseus. The inner elite guard of the Emperor, a select group of Custodies are known as the Hetaeron Guard or the Companions of the Emperor. This is an echo of the elite heavy cavalry of Alexander the Great, known as the Companions. Then there is Erebus, one of the most key characters in the Horus Heresy and who shares the name of the ancient Greek god who is the offspring of chaos and the personification of darkness.

Looking at more direct connections, we have the loyalists chapters, the Sons of Medusa and the Minatours who first show up in White Dwarf issue 101 where Rick Priestley documents the Badab War (reprinted in the Warhammer 40,000 Compendium). In that issue we don’t get much on those chapters other than the names, images of their armour and insignia designs. The Minotaus have a striped red and yellow pattern and the head of the mythical creature on the shoulder and banner.

(Image - The yellow and red armour pattern of the Minotaur’s Space Marine chapter. Source - The Warhammer 40,000 Compendium)

While the Sons of Medusa have two different armour patterns (back then that was a more common idea - that armour would be re-painted to match the terrain/campaign) of the basic full green and a yellow with green slash camouflage variant. Both have the shoulder patch and banner design of the mythical monster’s snake-haired head.

(Image - The two armour variants of the Sons of Medusa Space Marine chapter. Source - The Warhammer 40,000 Compendium)

There is much more, mostly coming in post-Rogue Trader, about the linkages here, including if The Emperor of Mankind was Alexander the Great. Another would be the name of ‘Lion’s Gate’ being both a structure on a Bronze Age era citadel of Mycenae origin in Greece & a major spaceport in the Imperial Palace on Terra.

Games Workshop also dipped its toe back into the period with the Warhammer Ancient Battles series of books, which started in 1999. The Chariot Wars supplement gives players the bronze age Greek and Trojan War rules. Around 12 years later Games Workshop discontinued the project. However this allowed players who wanted to explore historical wargaming but were comfortable with the ‘Warhammer’ way of playing, to get all ancient battles! The image below shows two groups of Greek hoplite-style warriors in combat with each other. Interestingly, on the right is a musician playing a flute. As noted in this video, this was used to co-ordinate the movement of the infantry. Musicians, as part of Command Squads, is a topic I’ve explored more here.

(Image - Two groups of Greek hoplite warriors facing each other. From Warhammer Ancient Battles.)

Thanks for reading!

Links of Note:

• The Ancients Podcast has been covering The Odyssey well

• Jordan Sorcery did a great video; The History of the Greatest 40K Battle Tank

• New book klaxon!! Building Fantasy Worlds: A Hands-On Guide to Creating Fantasy Settings for Games (And More!) By Graeme Davis

• TTRPG news - View from the Pelgrane’s Nest – Send in the Scones Edition

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

(Image - The front of the boxed set of Eldar Harlequins, coded RTB6 and as a ‘Regiment of Renown’. It shows a warband of brightly-colored Eldar warriors in action. The faction still exists today in the current game.)

With their introduction, a new layer of lore would expand though the overall faction, deepening lore of the Warhammer 40,000 setting in the process. At the start, in Rogue Trader, the Eldar lore had Craftworlds, Warp-Gates and it was common for them to be psychic. They also had ‘intra-vision’ so were able to see in the dark. There were no Drukhari back then (though Citadel had produced one ‘Dark Elf Space Trooper’ back in march ‘87) and the text suggested that the Eldar that left the Craftworlds to become pirates, mercenaries, bounty hunters and adventurers were those either unhappy with the more sedate life the floating worlds offered, or had been banished from Eldar society for disturbing behaviour.

Post the release of Rogue Trader, the Eldar got a regular tick-though of new units - Dreadnoughts, the War Walkers, heavy weapons units - and then a small lore update in WD 101, which added the idea that Eldar souls could be ‘kept’ by their technology.

1988’s Book of the Astronomican added a character - Lord Prince Yriel, leader of the Eldritch Raiders pirate forces. As human mercenary force players could add Eldar to this grouping, adding Eldar Impressors and Void-Dreamers (both psychic units), Eldar Exigators and Protectors, Lightning and Thunder Squads, Eldar Dreadnoughts, Grav-Attack Vehicles (but no image of them). As Eldar Pirate forces, players could add Shadowlords, Malefactors, Prefectors, Probati, Serpent and Dragon Squads and Zoat Terror Squads. This was because Eldar Pirates back then preferred to use Zoats, abandoned by Hive-Fleets, as auxiliary mercenaries. For vehicles it was Eldar Dreadnoughts, Grav-Attack Vehicles and stolen Imperial Speeders.

(An Eldar warrior of Yriel’s Eldritch Raiders. The warrior stands with a weapon in one hand surrounded by the insignia and heraldry of the unit. Source - Book of the Astronomican)

When the ‘Realm of Chaos - Slaves to Darkness’ source book launched in 1988 it added a huge new wedge of lore for the whole game and plenty for the Eldar too. It took the stub of the wap and added the Chaos daemons and powers and much more such as more on psykers and the warp. Crucially it added the Fall of the Eldar.

Then in WD 105 the lore expanded with the idea of a troupe of dancers/warriors who traveled between Craftworlds intent on reminding them of the fall to Chaos. Now the Eldar were not just enigmatic, but were also tragic and ethereal too. Here’s a draft section from the timeline of the book covering some of 1988 from when they launched:

September 1988 - WD 105 is an important issue as it gives us the iconic tank of the Land Raider, it gives us the first Space Marines Army List, Codex Imperialis in Index Astartes and an introduction to the sub-faction to the Eldar, the Harlequins, who would also take the cover of this issue.

October 1988 - We are a year on from the release of 40K Rogue Trader and WD 106 goes all in on more 40K with artillery rules and the Eldar Harlequins army list as the boxed set launches. This author purchased the set, painted them and won many, many games with them.

November 1988 - WD 107 would see the release of the Eldar Harlequin Jetbike and, importantly, a preview of the ‘Realm of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned’ via the ‘Chaos Renegade Army List’.

In creating the Eldar Harlequins, GW’s creators were drawing on a deep well of topos. (Topos are the concept of a recurrent idea/common cultural theme with meaning that exists external to the work in question.) This is again from some draft text of how they connect:

Let us take a quick concept - the Jester or the Fool. A slapstick and comedic character with versions that exist in many cultures. Yet for all the comedy they are often portrayed with either a darker, tragic or even brutally honest aspect that exists in contrast to the comedy, as with the Fool in Shakespere’s King Lear. This becomes a topos, a concept with cultural weight. Aspects of it get pulled into the creation of another character topos, the Harlequin. Created around the late 16th century as part of the Italian commedia dell’arte, this checkered patterned costumed tricker plays a more nimble and clever role than the Fool, but draws in aspects. Other creators draw from this topos, for example Agatha Christie’s Mr Harley Quin, who is written into being in 1930. In 1988 a sub-faction to the Eldar is added, the Harlequins, whose role is both the agile, ethereal warrior in battle and who dances the tragic tale of the Eldar at court.

(Image - A porcelain Harlequin by Johann Joachim Kändler, from around 1738. From the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Photo by author.)

These releases, as well as the RTB6 boxed set, included the blister packs of 4305/6 Harlequins and the 4306 Harlequin Jet Bike. For vehicles, WD 106 would show the Harlequins using an eldar dreadnought and a captured Land Raider.

(Image - A group of Harlequin warriors standing in front of an Eldar Harlequin dreadnought with a patterned paint job that matches the warriors. Image from Page 12 WD 106)

(Image - A Harlequin warrior leaps forward ahead of a captured Imperial Land Raider adored with Harlequin flags. Image from Page 18 WD 106)

Jordan Sorcery has a good video on the Harlequins too!

Thanks for reading!

Links of Note:

• The Eldar now: Warhammer 40,000 Faction Focus: Aeldari (inc. Harlequins)

• Grab this Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun 2 desktop back ground art for free!

• There’s an interview with the developers of Boltgun 2 also.

• That one Time Games Workshop was a Video Game Publisher - Codex Compliant

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

A big thank you to all those who’ve read, commented or liked my posts. Not only is it helpful for my work, but great to see all the love for Warhammer old and new! In this newsletter I’m going to continue share and highlight some of that.

My Warped Marginalia posts are my project and nerwsletter ‘housekeeping’ posts. (The name is a riff of the White Dwarf coloumn, ‘Marginalia’ which was title of a regular column in White Dwarf during the Rogue Trader era.)

Quick book update - I’ve completed the 1st draft now, I’m re-reading it and editing bits. Also sorting the images for the book. Oh and the cover too - big news on that coming. Lots to announce so please do sign up!

Top 3 popular posts to date:

• Looking back the LE2 - The first ever Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine from 1985

• EXCLUSIVE! Here are the original draft sketches and an alternative cover design for the iconic cover of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, featuring the last stand of Crimson Fist Space Marines vs Orks

• The Pre-40K Citadel Space Marines

(Wow! A change to the No.1 spot as the post on LE2 went viral! I did not expect that, but it is good to see.)

A Review of the Last Quarter

On the topic of Which Games and RPGs did 1980s players like and dislike? Big Hair, Big Swords, Big Adventures!

• It seemed White Dwarf did a lot of introductions to other games, as someone on FB noted, “It was the articles and adventures for AD&D and MERP that brought me to WD magazine in 1985 and then the magazine introduced me to Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia, Judge Dredd, Warhammer Roleplay, Blood Bowl and many others.”

• The Oldhammer Fiction Podcast noted that it’s a surprise where Judge Dredd falls here, which it is! “Also surprised that they dont like Judge Dredd very much considering it got a fair bit of coverage.”

• One Reddit commenter actually filled in this very survey!

• Brian makes the point that lots of readers may not have understood the difference between D&D and AD&D (which were separate) - a point I make re Warhammer the wargame and the RPG.

On the topic of Conan The Barbarian, Warhammer and the Birth of the Fantasy Genre (Part 1) and Exploring the relationship between the 1982 film ‘Conan the Barbarian’ and the original Robert E Howard Stories and some more axe-wielding mayhem! (Part 2)

• Let us not forget Dave the Barbarian!

• People still play the 1985 Conan RPG, as one Reddit commentator noted, “I still play this version of the game lol.”

• A Redditor points out a missing reference: One other minor reference is Thulsa Doom’s snake arrow that kills Valeria. In Howard’s People of the Black Circle a sorcerer does the same thing:

He lifted his head and saw, on the tier above him, a tall, black-robed figure, naked head nodding slightly as he stared down. His whole attitude suggested mockery and malignity. Quick as a flash the Irakzai bent his bow and loosed, and the arrow streaked upward to strike full in the black-robed breast. The mocking smile did not alter. The Seer plucked out the missile and threw it back at the bowman, not as a weapon is hurled, but with a contemptuous gesture. The Irakzai dodged, instinctively throwing up his arm. His fingers closed on the revolving shaft.

Then he shrieked. In his hand the wooden shaft suddenly writhed. Its rigid outline became pliant, melting in his grasp. He tried to throw it from him, but it was too late. He held a living serpent in his naked hand, and already it had coiled about his wrist and its wicked wedge-shaped head darted at his muscular arm. He screamed again and his eyes became distended, his features purple. He went to his knees shaken by an awful convulsion, and then lay still.

• A commentor, Thomas, noted the links between RPGs and early Warhammer, “The first 2 editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battles were such a weird mashup between RPG and Wargame. You had a lot of individual characters moving around and doing things. Like looking in buildings for treasure, or in the Tragedy of McDeath expansion in WD76 (Glen Woe), in which, the McDeath player could win with a single murderer taking out the opposing king. You didn’t even really need the armies if you got lucky.”

• A Facebook commenter reminded me that the cover of the Conan the Rebel book is the same as the one used for White Dwarf 107

• Also an interesting thread on roots of Robert E Howard’s ideas for Conan.

On the topic of Another Key Document in the History of Warhammer 40,000 - The Second Citadel Compendium from 1984!

• “Iconic” posts a commenter on Facebook!

(Image - The cover of Conan the Rebel book, showing an axe wielding barbarian fighting zombies. This was also used for White Dwarf issue 107.)

On the tribute to the great John Blanche.

• Some tributes paint to John in response. Here’s a couple:

  • “John Blanche was not just a legend of art & hobby... he was (& still is) a leviathan of them both” (Source)

  • “The more and more I got into the hobby the more and more I grew to love [John’s style]” (Source)

• Some kind words on the article, “Terrific piece, love seeing the history of the game”

• A FB user asked if John did other covers? He did and he did the First Citadel Compendium one.

(Image - the cover of the First Citadel Compendium by John Blanche)

On the topic of Warhammer 40,000 - No Peace Amongst the Stars Nor Peace Amongst Rogue Traders!

• Lewis Davies of the Oldhammer Fiction Podcast gave some great commentary:

Ive got a lot to say about this because i think it also highlights a key difference in the meaning of “you will not he missed”

In original RT the key horror of the setting is its size. If you look at those original scenarios, a lot of them are about being a lone planetary governor or inquisitor trying to deal with a problem. The pudding cult has emerged and the only person who can deal with it is you. What there isnt, crucially, is existential threats. There’s no black crusades, way less sense that tyranid fleets could stripmine the galaxy if someone doesn’t stop them, even when chaos does get introduced, its clear these guys are “renegades” the left over bits of an ancient war. The imperium is the only game in town, harassed by a million gnats, he just might never notice that your square milimeter of skin is about to be bitten and your tiny drop of blood will not be missed.

This changes when Advanced Space Crusade reimagines the tyrands as exactly an existential threat. Hive Fleet Kraken is the first “event” to move the setting forward in 40k, and from then on, chaos, by the time we get to 2nd edition, and then the necrons, have the capacity to destroy the galaxy. With this, the meaning of “you will not be missed” changes- you become insignificant not because of scale, but because of stakes: the war we are fighting is for the survival of the galaxy, and no individual matters at that scale. If you fall serving this grand defence, you will not be missed.

• I forgot that Tryanids are in Rogue Trader, oops, so fixed that!

(Image - Left shows a Tyranid warrior from the new video and one from Rogue Trader.)

On the topic of Looking back the LE2 - The first ever Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine from 1985

• A couple of folks noted LE2’s appearance in the Horus Heresy books as Leetu.

• A note too that there is a conversion of this guy in the Rogue Trader book.

• Some kind words on the post, thanks! “That article is great! so many little tidbits on the history of this model, thank you for sharing!”

• Was John Boorman’s Excalibur an influence?

• Another user shared a cool pic of one!

(Image -A blue painted LE2 by xptx/Reddit)

Thanks again for comments and feedback!

Links of Note:

• TTRPG news! The Merryshire Detective Club Preview is available now

• OMG! The Big Summer Preview – Exodites revealed!

• More TTRPG news: Wolfenstein: The Roleplaying Game is coming too.

• That one Time Games Workshop was a Video Game Publisher - Codex Compliant

• Even more TTRPG news! The great people of Strange Studies of Strange Stories are doing an RPG too!

• Phew.

Note! There is more about this project here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

Also note & note! The very top image is from a medieval document where the scribe added fighting snails, for reasons.

(Image - LE2. A side view of an armoured soldier holding a weapon with a bayonet. Source Lost Minis Wiki. An original can set you back £100-£800!)

So we know for sure that LE2, along with some other Space Marines, were released prior to Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader itself in October 1987. The earliest reference to it I’ve been able to find is from the 1985 September Citadel Flyer. The flyer would note, “Whoops guess we made a mistake with this one ED...Still there’s your last chance to buy this incredible Limited Edition Miniature of the Imperial Space Marine.” That clearly implies it was available prior to this point (indeed LE3 was advertised in the previous August 1985 flyer).

(Image - Detail of the September 1985 flyer showing the advert for LE2. Source: Stuff of Legends)

Here’s a draft section of the book documenting how LE2 came about:

So the decision came to get [Bob Naismith] to create a Space Ork (with a ‘k’ not ‘c’) - code-named LE1 and another code-named LE2, a Space Marine. Bob started working on these miniatures under a brief from Bryan. Bob recalls, “Again I was the person who was like wanting to do sci-fi wanting to do it and so I remember going to speak to Rick … he explained that what they needed was this figure which was like the basic soldier, the grunt who was going to be the core of the army …” LE2 was proving to be a tricker proposition than the Ork as Bryan had an image in his head of what he wanted, but had been unable to fully capture this in a brief (which flowed from Bryan to Alan to Bob). There had been a number of iterations based on the brief, none of which had captured what Bryan had in his head. A process of notes on requested changes, a new model design and then more notes was going on, not arriving at the final model.

Because LE2 was an SF and not fantasy, soldier, it allowed Bob to draw on inspirations from historical wargaming that he’d worked on in the past e.g. WW2, WW1 & Napoleonics etc. Bob wanted them to have a sense of realism in the design and there were little existing materials to draw from, so he would work into period inspirations such as a helmet that was Roman meets WW2 with an oxygen mask, SF over-skins of Doughboy backpacks (the nickname for the American infantryman during WW1) and ammo webbing inspired by WW2 soldiers. As the units were to be armoured infantry again Bob was inspired by the past, looking to the Romans and reimagining the segmented Legionary armour into shoulder pads. On one shoulder Bob put studs and on the other, an area was needed that people could decorate, so one shoulder pad was left clear.

From there, history was made!

Now I was lucky enough to be sent one of the 2016 reimagining of the LE2 by Philip Helliwell - so huge thanks to Philip for that! I plan to assemble him and take photos of him for the book! (Oh a slight mistake in the video below, I incorrectly gave the date of LE2 as 1986, whereas it’s actually 1985. Doh.) You’ll see from the video that it is also hard not to see him as a Crimson Fist, echoing the original Rogue Trader cover. Indeed, this is how the re-issued version is painted on the cover.

(If you have any space oldhammer miniatures from which I can get pictures of, for the book, do let me know! There’s some I’m very much after! Thanks)

So, if you enjoyed this, do subscribe to stay in the loop on my work and the book. If you know any updates on things like release dates, do let me know?!

Thanks for reading!

Links of Note:

• Good starter video for Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition

• It is not Warhammer, but if you want to do some fun tactical combat, grab 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces

• The new Ciaphas Cain minis are cool - you should grab ‘em!

• I liked this; Auroch Digital developers have a play of the new CRPG Rogue Trader DLC

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

(Image - The cover of the 2016 reissue of LE2. Photo by author.)

What I want to do in this article is point out some of the Rogue Trader elements that are referenced in this video.

Let’s dig in!

(Image - Left shows a Space Marine from Rogue Trader in combat, Right shows a Space Marine from the new video in combat too.)

Narrative Text

The first thing that leapt out at me is the similarities between the opening flavour text of Rogue Trader and the narration script of this video. What I’ve done is to make a table of both of these, side-by-side and highlight in yellow where the text is the same - and it is for quite a lot of it! Here’s the first two paragraphs of both:

So the same words are used to open each version, the phrasing for the title of the Emperor is the same, the term ‘inexhaustible armies’ is there both times and the price the Big E pays (being mostly a corpse and the cost in psychers) is the same.

On to the second part... (I’ve only broken it down into two parts of ease of reading)

Here we get the same way to describe the Imperium (and not in a positive way), we get the same words for the lack of peace and how the Chaos gods are described and finally the same ending sentence that focuses in on the role of the player/the normal person in the setting, making a deliberate comparison between both.

What I think is key is that the opening and closing sentences are the same and their thematic reading of both is very similar. This can’t be an accident and I think GW knows the resonance they are making by this statement. Interesting stuff.

Factions Featured

Next I was interested in the game factions shown in the video. Here’s a list of who we are shown:

• Space Marines

• Imperial Guard

• Orks

• Eldar

• Necrons

• Mechanicum

• Chaos Space Marines

• Tyranids

So this is quite the departure from the original 40K Rogue Trader. Sure, all the Imperial factions are in Rogue Trader too, although the Mechanicum only really get a brief mention as a sub-faction of the Administratum. Of the others? Orks, yes and they are mostly visually the same. Eldar yes, but in the new video we see an Aspect Warrior, which was not a thing in the original Rogue Trader. The Tyranids are Rogue Trader along with Zoats as a slave-race plus if you squint via Genestealers, there is them too. But the faction is a long way off what this whole faction/s become. Chaos Space Marines were added with White Dwarf 99 from March 1988, so around 6 months later. The Necrons kinda appear with ‘Chaos Androids’ in Space Crusade from 1990/ and/or White Dwarf 217 from 1998 (good video on this here) but not in Rogue Trader. The video shows how far the factions have progressed from the original.

(Image - On the left is an image from page 7 of 1994’s Eldar 2nd edition Codex, on the right is from the new ‘No peace amongst the stars’ video. Both show an Eldar warrior walking along a walkway in a Craftworld.)

The Emperor

As noted above, the Big E features quite a lot in the new video. It is notable that they are centering the narrative on him so much. He is, then and now, the character on which all of the narrative revolves and is quite prominent in Rogue Trader getting his own section in the book. In the new video we see him in various guises - the golden warrior, the golden being on the throne and the corpse-god. The latter is interesting as visually there is a visual connection there to how he is shown in Rogue Trader in the damaged-throne state. (For in Rogue Trader he’s not shown as any kind of Golden Warrior, that comes later) Visually these are similar with the cadaver-look, the cables and tubes.

(Image - Left shows a picture of the Emperor from the new video. Right, shows a picture of the Emperor from Rogue Trader. In both they look almost dead and are covered in medical implants.)

Overall, the video is great and imho represents a conscious linking to Rogue Trader and 2nd Edition while still charting its own course forward for the setting. Great stuff! (Here’s a couple of videos I enjoyed prior to writing this - one of Arbitor Ian and one from the Sandman of Terra.)

Thanks for reading!

Links of Note:

• Check out the Olden Demon painting competition results. Also check out the full list of Olden Demon painting competition entires!

• I got a bit of FOMO from missing UK Games Expo so enjoyed Alex’s UKGE video and Jordan Sorcery’s one too.

• Very excited that the Awesome Lies blog is also going a Warhammer history book!

• Play the demo for Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun 2!!

• I have a survey for readers of this newsletter - please take a moment to speak your brains?!

Thanks again!

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

John was an artistic powerhouse whose unmistakable style was a unique lens through which many of us came to know and love the worlds of Warhammer. John was also a friend and mentor to many of us here at Games Workshop. Our heartfelt condolences go to his family and friends.

So time to let the art speak for itself. So here instead is an exploration of some of his works from the 1977-1988 period. Starting in 1977 where John drew the cover for the 4th ever issue of White Dwarf. He would go on to do more covers though the 70s and 80s for issues 7, 11, 42, 79 and 108.

(Image - The cover of White Dwarf issue 4 from the end of 1977. Art by John Blanche showing a stylized warrior fighting a smaller flying creature.)

John excelled at covers - some of his most iconic works being that of main game covers. In works of this sort he was not only making an amazing piece of art, but managing to capture the essence of the game within too. Here is arguably one of his most important of his works, and arguably one of the most important pieces of Warhammer art ever:

(Image - The cover of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, 1st Edition from 1983. The iconic cover art featuring a hammer-wielding warrior was by a key piece foundational art by John Blanche.)

The following year John would indulge in some science-fantasy art for the cover of the Second Citadel Compendium depicting Amazon warriors, one armed with a laspistol.

(Image - The fully folded-out front and back cover of the Second Citadel Compendium from 1984. The art was by John Blance showing some Amazonian warriors fighting some enemy fighters who are emerging from a stone doorway. Photo by author.)

I was lucky enough to meet John in 2024 and interview him for my book and he was generous with his time. My book is focused on the creation of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, where he undertook a different - yet still critical role.

Here, in a draft extract from the book I describe the Rogue Trader art process:

“At that point I made a decision, which I wouldn’t make now, because I commissioned out the art, rather than doing the art myself. So you see Rogue Trader has lots of different artists doing different styles.” John Blanche remarked in an interview for this book. John, having created many iconic pieces of art for WFB including the two ‘Harry the Hammer’ covers for 1st and 2nd edition, the cover of the Skeleton Horde miniatures boxed-set and many more pieces, had, at this point moved into being in the more managerial role as the needs for art to adorn Rogue Trader grew. Indeed John is credited as ‘Art Manager’ in the credits Rogue Trader itself. This altered position seems to have influenced how close he felt to the project in retrospect, “I don’t regard Rogue Trader as being the first edition ... “ John described how he added more of his vision for 2nd and 3rd editions. Both would follow the form of Rogue Trader’s cover - a knot of Space Marines surrounded by enemies. It was the Blood Angels chapter in 2nd edition and the Black Templars for 3rd edition. “One thing people generally get wrong about Space Marines is they’re not futuristic warriors as such, but they are medieval knights, but in space. There’s a subtle difference between the two.” Using the Black Templars cover for 40K 3rd edition showed this, “Well exactly, why I did that, in a way.”

Back to January and to 1988 and here a new column started in White Dwarf issue 97, titled ‘Blanchitsu’ which would feature an irregular infusion of John Blanche’s unique and influential style, the first one being focused on his miniature painting. It would really start to define the thinking behind his works.

(Image - White Dwarf issue 97 and a section from page 68 showing different miniatures painted by John Blanche along with an icon for the new column featuring them.)

John would continue to produce iconic piece after iconic piece. This one is notable as a White Dwarf cover for the new Adeptus Titanicus game.

(Image - The cover of White Dwarf 108 showing two huge Titans under fire, by John Blanche. It shows infantry fighting underneath the giant feet of titans.)

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing some of his art.

When I met him, I took the liberty of asking him to sign my copy of Blanche: The Rise of Grimdark, which he kindly did. If you are interested in John and his works, is a good read and has his own words, biographical info and writings by collegues of his.

(Image - Front page of my copy of ‘Blanche: The Rise of Grimdark’, signed by John in 2024. The book is from Wombat Wargames and photo by me.)

Others have covered John Blanche’s passing too and I wanted to note some other good reads on his work:

• Awsome Lies Blog on John Blanche

• Wyrd Science on John Blanche

• Black Library Weekly: Remembering John Blanche

• Pictures of a tribute to John in Warhammer World

Thanks for reading.

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

(Image - The gorgeous fully folded-out front and back cover of the Second Citadel Compendium. The art was by John Blance showing some Amazonian warriors fighting some enemy fighters who are emerging from a stone doorway. Photo by author.)

The Second Citadel Compendium came out back in 1984, and as it sounds by the title, was indeed the second of this magazine line that Citadel produced. (The First Citadel Compendium was published in October of ‘83 and as noted before had the first mention of ‘Rogue Trader’) So, you may wonder, why were Citadel Miniatures - a part of Games Workshop - making a magazine when Games Workshop also published the popular White Dwarf? At that time each magazine performed a different task and were produced in different locations by different people. The White Dwarf of then was much more a general tabletop gaming magazine, with a focus on RPGs. While the Citadel Compendium was a catalogue of Citadel Miniatures and articles and news that supported its own releases - at this point Warhammer Fantasy Battle being the main one (1st edition having launched in 1983). Here’s what I’ve written thus far in the book:

Citadel continues to grow its product line with more support for WFB with the launch of the first supplement for the game, ‘Forces of Fantasy’. It was then later released as boxed with WFB 1st Edition. This guide gave army lists, battle set-ups and arcane magicks [sic] for the Warhammer setting. Also key is artist and sculptor Bob Naismith would also move from partial work with Citadel to full time this year. He would later go on to sculpt the first ever Citadel Space Marine model. Around this time Chaz Elliott also joined as a graphic designer while future Bloodbowl designer Jervis Johnson joined but started in trade sales. Chaz would go on to do the design for 40K Rogue Trader but started on a range of materials including flyers for Citadel products. Also of note is that in mid 1984, the Second Citadel Compendium was published and it featured a science-fantasy scenario for WFB called ‘Riggs Shrine’ written by Richard Halliwell and with the cover by John Blanche. This scenario saw Bolters and Needlers as weapons (called ‘High Age Weapons’).

So I’m trying out a new set-up, something to hold the phone while I turn the pages and chat. Hopefully this works well? (Do let me know?) So here’s a run though:

Finally, on the rear inside page is another key point to underscore: 1984 would see the first GW-produced paint sets. These were Citadel Colour Set 1, and Citadel Colour Set 2, the ad text proclaims, “Citadel Colour is another quality product manufactured by Games Workshop Ltd.” The Citadel Paints were a fantastic innovation for me as a player back then, as prior to that I’d only been able to get oil-based model paints designed for your classic Arfix models, which didn’t quite work as well. From that humble hobby-kit beginning GW would expand and grow the range and types of paints as well as offering the other hobby tools needed.

(Image - an advert for Citadel Miniatures paints showing the box, open with the paints out and also an example of a couple of painted miniatures. Given the title of the advert, I should make a joke about Darkest Dungeons. Photo by author.)

Thanks for reading!

Links of Note:

• I’ve had a chance now to play a bit with Bloodbowl Season 3 rules and they are very good.

• Warhammer Skulls video game festival returns this month!!

• Like SF and RPGs? Check out The Pirates of Drinax, Traveller RPG (with Matthew Sprange)

• I enjoyed Arbitor Ian’s video on the cursed foundings of Space Marine chapters.

• This is a great read on the history of the Black Library by The Black Library Dispatch

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

(Image - an Age of Sigmar barbarian-type warrior. The Darkoath Chieftain on Warsteed. Source - Warhammer Community)

Cometh Conan!

The term ‘barbarian’ originates in ancient Greek as ‘someone who does not speak Greek’. Plus. a bit of gaming history to start with - the D&D stat block for Conan from D&D’s 1976 supplement ‘Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes’.

(Image - Stat block for Conan the Barbarian showing his skills and game stats)

The film’s connection to Robert E Howard

Conan was created by pulp writer Robert E Howard (more here). The 1982 film though was not directly based on any specific Conan story - but it did use the character and themes from the original. It also referenced some story events that Howard himself had written - both in his Conan and other non-Conan stories.

Film Characters vs Literary Characters

In terms of characters, as well as Conan there are a number of other characters in the film who have roots in Robert E Howard’s works.

The film’s main villain, Thulsa Doom was not a Conan villain, but a villain from Howard’s first ‘sword & sorcery’ character, Kull of Atlantis. Kull is a literary forerunner of Conan and some argue an ancestor of him, they are certainly thematically related. But what we do know from Howard’s world-building is that the Cimmerians, of whom Conan is one, lived in the Hyborian Age and are the descendants of Atlantean colonists of the Thurian Age, where Kull reigned.

(Image - Art depicting Thusa Doom by Justin Sweet. Source, Wikipedia)

Conan’s love interest in the film, Valeria, is named after a character from a Conan story ‘Red Nails’ though it is argued that her personality in the film is closer to another Conan love-interest from the story ‘Queen of the Black Coast’, pirate-queen Bêlit. This is in-part because in Queen of the Black Coast, Bêlit’s spirit re-appears after death to save Conan (as in the film). This from the original story:

“In one mad instant she was there—a tense white shape, vibrant with love fierce as a she-panther’s. The dazed Cimmerian saw between him and the onrushing death, her lithe figure, shimmering like ivory beneath the moon; he saw the blaze of her dark eyes, the thick cluster of her burnished hair; her bosom heaved, her red lips were parted, she cried out sharp and ringing as the ring of steel as she thrust at the winged monster’s breast.”

A note on Red Sonja, another 80s film with Arnie as a fantasy warrior and that we mention in the podcast. Robert E Howard had indeed created a character, Red Sonya, but her full name was Red Sonya of Rogatino - with the different spelling of ‘Sonja’. Howard created her as an historical set adventuress from the 16th Century who is of Polish/Ukrainian origin. (Interestingly Sandahl Bergman who plays Valeria in the 1982 Conan film, portrayed the evil queen in 1985’s Red Sonja!)

(Image - Left to right, Valeria, Conan & Subotai. Source: Conan.com)

Film Plot vs Literary Narrative Elements

The opening narrative voice talks about an age undreamed of and this text is a shortened version of the some text from the first ever published Conan story, The Phoenix and the Sword. Here’s the original:

“KNOW, oh prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars”

There is an interesting scene early on where Conan has congress with a prophetic witch. That scene does seem to have a Howardian origin but again not from the Conan stories. We find it in another character’s story, Bran Mak Morn, King of the Picts. In the story Worms of the Earth, Bran encounters Atla, a half-human witch who offers him secret knowledge if he sleeps with her.

The scene in the film where they climb the tower to do a spot of thievery, this event has an analogue in the story, The Tower of the Elephant. (Which, interestingly, is referenced in the film via the scene with King Osric where he asks about the missing Subotai if he has been ‘eaten by lions’ as there are roaming lions as a trap for intruders in the original story.)

(Image - Arnie as Conan charges down one of Thusa Doom’s men in a scene from the 1982 film. Source: Conan.com)

The giant snake scene has an analog in The Hour of the Dragon where it is also a sacred animal and killed by Conan, to quote;

“Its neck arched, but before it could dart, Conan whipped his knife from under his mantle and struck like a flicker of lightning. The broad blade split that wedge-shaped head and sheared deep into the thick neck.”

The crucifixion is similar to a scene in A Witch Shall be Born, to quote from the original;

“Conan drew his head back as far as he could, waiting with terrible patience. The vulture swept in with a swift roar of wings. Its beak flashed down, ripping the skin on Conan’s chin as he jerked his head aside; then before the bird could flash away, Conan’s head lunged forward on his mighty neck muscles, and his teeth, snapping like those of a wolf, locked on the bare, wattled neck.”

Conan facing an evil sorcerer is a theme in several of the original stories - Beyond the Black River, Hour of the Dragon and The Scarlet Citadel for example.

Conan battling monsters (or monstrous creatures) is also a regular theme; The Scarlet Citadel, Rogues in the House, Beyond the Black River, Hour of the Dragon and The Scarlet Citadel.

Thanks for reading!

Links of Note

• Meet the new Boltgun 2 enemies! (PlayStation blog)

• Jordan Sorcery, “I Was Sent A Game That Doesn’t Exist!”

• The new Kill Team set, Terror on Devlan, looks v.cool.

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

The Birth of Sword & Sorcery

Why Conan? So working backward: Without Warhammer Fantasy Battle, there’s no Warhammer 40,000. Without Dungeons & Dragons, there’s probably no Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Without Conan there is no D&D. (At least not in the way we know it)

When D&D was being formed, its creators were inspired by a bunch of other games and fiction writers, which the co-creator Gary Gygax documented in an essay called Appendix N. So as part of my work, I put a couple of the key names here into a timeline of 40K, which is a major section of the book.

Here’s a draft excerpt from that timeline:

1929 - Pulp author, Robert E Howard, has his story ‘The Shadow Kingdom’ featuring the proto-Conan the Barbarian character, Kull of Atlantis, published in Weird Tales. This is a genre we’d now recognise as ‘Fantasy’.

1932 - Another Robert E Howard story appears, ‘The Phoenix on the Sword’ is published in the December issue of Weird Tales. This would be the first published work featuring the character ‘Conan the Barbarian’ As with the Kull stories, it would feature fantastical elements of monsters, warriors, adventure and magic set in a fantasy age undreamed of. It is argued by Toogood (2020:8) to have been the birth of the ‘Sword of Sorcery’ genre, “In a brief flourish of creativity Howard single-handedly created an entire sub genre of literature now known as Sword & Sorcery. He invested it with all its tropes and conventions, and dressed it with haunted cities plucked from the pages of H Rider Haggard, monsters conscripted from the mind of HP Lovecraft and gossamer clad dancing girls summoned from the frustrated well of his own id.” Howard’s Conan works were also referenced in ‘Appendix N’.

1937 - The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, by J. R. R. Tolkien, is published. This book is a foundational inspiration for both the setting (mediaeval fantasy) and structure (a party going on a quest for loot) of what will become the classic RPG format in a few decades time.

So Robert E Howard’s take on ‘fantasy’ pre-dates Tolkien’s by around 8 years, though both are key in this story in creating what we understand as the ‘fantasy’ genre.

Conan & Dungeons & Dragons

As well as getting a shout-out in Appendix N, Conan as well as a bunch of other characters from Howard’s Hyborian Age setting get stat-ed up in D&D’s 1976 supplement ‘Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes’. Then after the success of the 1982 film, TSR produced two tie-in modules for D&D released in 1984 and followed with a standalone game in 1985.

(Image - The cover of the TSR Conan RPG showing Conan with a sword issuing a battle cry in front of a ruined temple and with monsters on either side of him. Source - RediscoveredRealms.com)

Conan & Games & Workshops

Games Workshop, as the UK licenced distributor for TSR, would have sold these games on. Robert E Howard’s stories also were an inspiration for some of the designers and creators there. Bryan Ansell, co-founder of Citadel Miniatures and boss of GW during the Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Traders years, cited Conan in the creation of the Chaos god Khorne:

Khorne was derived from Conan’s “Crom”, who is an “actual” Celtic god who can also be spelt Krom or Khram. Good name for a war god.

Noted designer and creator of Bloodbowl, Jervis Johnson, was also a fan:

I used to play a number of fantasy games, I was into Conan a lot, I liked the Conan comic, sci-fi films, Doctor Who and all the rest of it and effectively the two hobbies combined.

They also jumped onto a zeitgeist of the character by commissioning a parody barbarian, Thrud the Barbarian as a regular comic strip in White Dwarf. Another part of Games Workshop’s business, Citadel Miniatures, also joined the fun with ‘Nigel’ the Barbarian and his fellow barbarians in 1986.

(Image - C01 Barbarians, with Nigel being top-right. Three rows of Barbarian warriors in various poses. Source - Stuff of Legends)

Not to mention the classic GW/MB Games collaboration HeroQuest with its Conan-esque cover star, with the art by Les Edwards. HeroQuest is a fascinating topic of its own.

(Image - The cover of HeroQuest showing a party of adventurers with a muscled barbarian warrior in the foreground, hefting a sword to attack his foes. Source lesedwards.com)

Conan as a Character

Conan is an anti-hero and the film captures this to an extent. In the original stories - he does some ‘good’ honorable things but also robs, kills and steals. In the stories he’s a thief, a pirate, a mercenary and a king. The constant theme is about Conan as the representative of the wild, a barbarian, even when a king - and civilization. E.g from Beyond the Black River

“The Cimmerian might have spent years among the great cities of the world; he might have walked with the rulers of civilization; he might even achieve his wild whim some day and rule as king of a civilized nation; stranger things had happened. But he was no less a barbarian. He was concerned only with the naked fundamentals of life. The warm intimacies of small, kindly things, the sentiments and delicious trivialities that make up so much of civilized men’s lives were meaningless to him. A wolf was no less a wolf because a whim of chance caused him to run with the watch-dogs. Bloodshed and violence and savagery were the natural elements of the life Conan knew…”

Conan appears in the pulp fiction of the late 20s onwards. The pulps birthed many notable writers including H.P.Lovecraft (writer of The Call of Cthulhu), Robert Bloch (Psycho), Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 541), Robert A. Heinlein (Starship Troopers) and I’ll mention C.L.Moore as she wrote another sword and sorcery character, Jirel of Joiry.

Like fellow pulp writer Lovecraft, was a ‘writer of his time’ in terms of depictions of race, gender and more. But he also does some odd mashups like the ‘Picts’ who are kind of an mashup of the Northern European actual picts and 1930s caricatures/stereotypes of Native Americans. (If you want to go deeper into the pulp themes covered in this paragraph, I’d recommend here)

Robert E Howard wrote stories with generally good plots, interesting world-building (including what we’d now call a ‘cinematic universe’ as his different characters inhabited the same world) and he excelled at combat (from The Phoenix and the Sword).

“With his back to the wall he faced the closing ring for a flashing instant, then leaped into the thick of them. He was no defensive fighter; even in the teeth of overwhelming odds he always carried the war to the enemy. Any other man would have already died there, and Conan himself did not hope to survive, but he did ferociously wish to inflict as much damage as he could before he fell. His barbaric soul was ablaze, and the chants of old heroes were singing in his ears.

As he sprang from the wall his ax dropped an outlaw with a severed shoulder, and the terrible back-hand return crushed the skull of another. Swords whined venomously about him, but death passed him by breathless margins. The Cimmerian moved in, a blur of blinding speed. He was like a tiger among baboons as he leaped, side-stepped and spun, offering an ever-moving target, while his ax wove a shining wheel of death about him.”

Nb. A funny bit in The Phoenix and the Sword is where Conan ponders taxation policy as king. Conan is depicted as lowering taxes on the common people and reigning in the excesses of the aristocracy, who often abused the tax system. A very modern take on a world undreamed of!

How Conan’s Image Developed

Here is a depiction of Conan as a young man from Tower of the Elephant:

“He saw a tall, strongly made youth standing beside him. This person was as much out of place in that den as a gray wolf among mangy rats of the gutters. His cheap tunic could not conceal the hard, rangy lines of his powerful frame, the broad heavy shoulders, the massive chest, lean waist and heavy arms. His skin was brown from outland suns, his eyes blue and smoldering; a shock of tousled black hair crowned his broad forehead. From his girdle hung a sword in a worn leather scabbard.”

This is his first ever depiction from his first published story and he quite a ‘Roman/Ancient Greek’ statue looking imho. The first artist to create an image of Conan was Jayem Wilcox (1895 – 1958).

(Image - Conan facing a beast-man monster. Illustration by Jayem Wilcox from Weird Tales. The first published image of Conan)

Margaret Brundage (1900-1976) was the first artist to render Conan stories in color. Here is an example of her work depicting Conan:

(Image - Conan from Weird Tales, August 1934 depicting him battling a giant serpent.)

But it is really Frank Frazetta who cements his image in the popular imagination and he depicts him closer to Arnie we see in the film. Here his his first published work created originally for the 1966 cover of Conan the Adventurer, a collection of some Robert E Howard stories and a hybrid Howard/L. Sprague de Camp one.

(Image - Conan The Adventurer cover art by Frank Frazetta.)

Thanks for reading! (On to part 2!!)

PS. The term ‘barbarian’ originates in the ancient Greek as ‘someone who does not speak Greek’.

Links of Note:

• Jordan Sorcery’s video on Armageddon is great.

• Zoats! Zoats!

• The new 40K Grots are cool!

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

GW always sought player feedback. The first White Dwarf readers questionnaire appeared in WD 7 with the results reported back on in WD 8 (August/September 1978), where 57% of the readers reported they’d like to see more SF content. Another example is found in the Citadel Miniatures mailorder flyer ‘Arcane Ramblings’ from winter 1983 which asked players for suggestions, “Anybody out there got any really good ideas for Chaotic Attributes?”

So I’ve just been looking at the survey from White Dwarf 80 (August 1986) which is 10 months before Rogue Trader would be launched. The results of the survey were reported later back to the readers over two issues, White Dwarf 84 and 85 (Dec 1986 & Jan 1987 respectively). The issue 84 report is quite fun but not much of interest from my POV, though interesting these two are the ‘best cover’ runner up and winner - WD 79 (817 votes) and WD 78 (506 votes).

(Image - White Dwarf issue 78’s cover showing a warrior accompanied by wolves facing zombies by noted fantasy artist, Chris Achilleos. 506 votes)

It is with issue 85 that things get interesting from a ‘warhammer’ history perspective. As this is around the time that the shift in production at Games Workshop happens as it is all consolidated in Nottingham, from partially being based in London. (White Dwarf issue 82 was the last issue produced in London.) It is also as the vertical integration of Games Workshop is happening and so the shift away from other people’s games, to focus on their own titles. Indeed, around nine issues later, in White Dwarf 93, while Rogue trader would get its first full preview, it would also be the last D&D article White Dwarf would run.

(Image - White Dwarf issue 79’s cover showing an Amazon Gothique female warrior with axe and shield by grim-dark legend John Blanche.)

Back to the survey results from White Dwarf 85 and what the survey results noted with how many people voted for certain games to have more content in White Dwarf and how many voted against some games to have less content. Here is how the survey reported on the votes for and against games:

(Image - survey data from White Dwarf issue 85 listing game titles and votes for more coverage and for less coverage. 817 votes.)

MERP (Middle Earth Role-Playing) comes out on top. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons next and then Call of Cthulhu (CoC) in 3rd place. Warhammer, GW’s own game - and not an RPG but a Wargame - in 4th place. The Judge Dredd RPG is 6th (also published by GW, but a 2000AD IP) and another of their published titles, Golden Heroes, is in 17th place.

This is interesting but it lists them in most positive votes to least positive votes. While the negative votes data is there, they are not really using it. If you did use it, you can get a more holistic read of the data, which is helpful from a business POV as an extra data point. By adding the negative votes to the positive votes, you get a ‘net favourability’ which is the combined score of how the audience feels about a game overall. A negative number means, overall the community does not feel great about that title. So here’s the net favourability listed from least popular (at the top) to most popular (at the bottom).

(Image - survey data from White Dwarf issue 85 listed as net-favourability, with least popular at the top and most popular at the bottom)

This gives a slightly different view of things. MERP is still on top, but now Warhammer is a close second. GW’s own published RPGs are now in the middle or the least popular title. Oh and the readers of White Dwarf, really don’t like super-hero RPGs as the least popular tiles are all in this genre. (However, in the years since, this genre of games have found their audience, which is great. I had the DC Heroes RPG back then and enjoyed it.)

To me this shows the more complex picture of that shift away from RPGs and towards Warhammer is emerging in the fan-base even before the release of Rogue Trader would cement the shift towards wargaming. It also shows that Science Fiction is actually quite popular as the most net-popular titles n the 4th, 5th & 7th slots are of the SF genre.

Plus the only other wargame in the list, Battletech is also more popular.

Thanks for reading!

Links of Note:

• There’s a new edition of Warhammer 40,000 coming!

• Wyrd Science 8 is now out - I’ve got mine, you go grab it too!

• A timeline of where Conan the Barbarian stories fit as a chronology

• New Warhammer Survivors info

• Warhammer Classics - including 3 titles I worked on!

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

First off, as ever a big thank you to all those who’ve read, commented or liked the posts. Not only is it helpful for my work, but great to see all the love for Warhammer old and new! In this newsletter I’m going to continue share and highlight some of that.

My Warped Marginalia posts (name is a riff of the White Dwarf coloumn, ‘Marginalia’ which was title of a regular column in White Dwarf during the Rogue Trader era.) are my project and nerwsletter ‘housekeeping’ posts.

Top 3 popular posts to date:

1. EXCLUSIVE! Here are the original draft sketches and an alternative cover design for the iconic cover of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, featuring the last stand of Crimson Fist Space Marines vs Orks

2. The Pre-40K Citadel Space Marines

3. A Key Document in the History of Warhammer 40,000: White Dwarf 112 & Terminator Armour

(No change from last time, though there is a general rise in subscribers and views on all the posts. I think it will need something special to knock that top post from the no.1 spot though.)

A Review of the Last Quarter

A real highlight was my appearance on the Grognard Files podcast, which in-part, inspired this 5-part series of posts. (Though it was recorded at the end of 2025.) I also did a two part post on Command Squads, though that was more about the original being a bit too long and needing breaking up for ease of reading.

Oh and more podcast appearances to follow! Watch this space.

I’ve also been more active on BlueSky posting pics and bit of lore from the timeline of Warhammer 40K’s creation.

(Image - A 16th Century warhammer from the New York museum of Natural History. Photo by me. After all, this is about the history of Warhammer!)

Feedback & Comments on Q1 2026 Posts

On the topic of A History of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader in 5 Less Obvious Objects - Part One:

• Miles posted some great thoughts as to his top 5:

  • 1) the Warhammer 40.000 Rogue Trader book (obvious, but nonetheless completely mandatory)

  • 2) the Deodorant Stick Hover- Vehicle. Pure 80s’ modeling magic;

  • 3) the RTB01 Imperial Space Marines box (obvious again, I know, but still mandatory);

  • 4) Harlequins! I mean: costumed Elven dancers-fighters-troubadours in Spaaaace! What’s more cool than that?

  • 5) Waargh the Orks! A solely background books for a crazy hooligan alien race they paints vehicles in red, because they believe red paint makes vehicles go faster.

• Someone on BlueSky posted the range of Starhound miniatures - nice!

• Another take on the 5 key miniatures on Reddit. Also I replied to one to say

Yeah I think the key ones are:

1. Warhammer Fantasy Battle

2. Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader itself.

3. RTB01

4. White Dwarf 98 - Which worked into the lore for the Space Marines

5. Realm of Chaos

• Noted writer (including of one of my fav Horus Heresy novels, Nemesis) James Swallow posted a pic of his ‘Starhound’ mins:

(Image - James Swallow‘s spaceship minis! A wide range of classic Citadel spaceship miniatures. Photo by him)

On the topic of Part Two - PBS1 Skeleton Horde!

• Nostalgia-powered Reddit comment! “Mine like a lot of people’s lived two lives, first as a skeleton army and then on banner poles, bases, conversions etc. Poor guys, I have like 5 left and lots of horses with no heads. Fantastic box”

• A Facebook comment that was fun; “I love that box set. Got it on release. I’m 53 now and still keep finding parts from it 🤣 I’ve moved house three times since too”

• Nice comment on the newsletter, “wait this is actually wild, had no idea the skeleton horde and RTB01 shared the same mold. the fact that a fantasy undead kit basically made the space marines possible is such a weird piece of history. it’s funny how much of the hobby’s direction came down to practical production decisions rather than some grand plan. love these deep dives into the less obvious moments.”

On the topic of A History of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader in 5 Less Obvious Objects - Part Three - The Chainsword!

• GW author and designer Gav Thorpe notes, “Yup, I had that one.”

• “Iconic. Great to learn the history of its introduction.” Via Reddit.

• Was the C100 Space Marine with a sword holding a bonesword or a chainsword? A discussion! Also it is noted the Ork, Buzzy Buzzacks, has either a small chainsword or a chainknife!

On the topic of The General, The Musician, The Standard Bearer. Tarot cards? No! The Joy of Command Squads! (Part 1)

• I heard this great quote on command and control on a podcast - which I’ll add to the article:

“It’s still very difficult. Command and control is very, very difficult in an era without immediate communication. You are looking at visual indicators, you have audio indicators, drums, bugles, pipes, and flags, and your commander’s voice.”

• Also got this from Facebook:

“yeah, the idea of having a command cadre on the field is something that seems to have been forgotten by a lot of games these days, even when such a thing is appropriate. that said “modern” army doctrine tends to have field commanders not have too many people with them. Your average Lt/Captain might be accompanied by a sergeant or corporal and maybe the guy who has the long range backpack radio but he most definitely isnt followed around by the platoon medic/medic team (unless he is a bit of a coward), anyone with a support weapon or a mechanic/engineer.”

(Image - Buzzy Buzzacks or RTO2, a Ork miniature holding a pistol and chain-weapon. Image via Lost Minis Wiki)

On the topic of A History of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader in 5 Less Obvious Objects - Part Four - Space Vampires!

• Miles makes the (good) point that perhaps Enslavers would have been a better choice? “Their role also somewhat was overlapping the Enslavers’ one, and Enslavers were more interesting (while still also losing immediate traction - but they then had more luck as years, editions and fiction went by).”

• A facebook comment notes, “Basically the idea was that you could use everything you had in your model collection to play Rogue Trader. Hence Enslavers and Ambulls, both pinched from D&D.”

• Another comment made an interesting point about where we see Space Vampires now and then:

“Today when people mention space vampires in relation to 40K, they almost immediately go to blood angels. I expected that to at least get an acknowledgment in the text when I saw the headline. It might make a good lead, because while I own a copy of Rogue trader, I didn’t even remember it having vampires. Mephiston’s original and contemporary’s sculpts lean into the stereotype of the vampire lord for sure with lots of Gothic vibes when he’s portrayed in stories... there’s also the Blooddrinkers, which is right on the nose…”

On the topic of A History of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader in 5 Less Obvious Objects - Part Five - Robots, Robots, Robots!

The image used in the post from WD 104, has a back story, which is referenced on pg.19 opposite the image, summarised by a fellow user of Reddit;

“So IIRC this art depicts Saul Lliamson of the Desert Lions during the retaking of Isstvan V in M31. He programmed a legion of Kastellan’s to assault the enemy positions in mindless waves. The robots were obliterated but they broadcast the positions of the enemy defenders and during the subsequent assault by the DL, they lost only 7 marines. Work smarter not harder.”

• Good point on BlueSky re Chaos and 40K and robots, “i love how chaos could corrupt robots. possessed robots is such a rad idea”

• Interesting on how it works in 30K from Reddit, “So this is actually a thing in 30K, there’s a command unit called a Praevian, and a resin mini for it called the Legion Praevian. They can be accompanied by a unit of battle-automata (robots), so you can take certain units from the mechanicum army list for a legiones astartes army.”

• Kind words too, “Loving the articles, I can’t wait for the book!” Thanks!

• Also a note on my typos, and fair comment too!

• “i love how chaos could corrupt robots. possessed robots is such a rad idea” Indeed!!

• A Facebook memory of play, “I remember the Robot orders counters. Because Imperial robots were so complex they actually had a phase of their own within the Imperial player’s turn, when they would perform all their actions, movement, charging, shooting, close combat or self-detonating.”

On the Subject of The Joy of Command Squads - Exploring the Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader Years (Part 2)

• There was discussion of the Eldar musician Taal Spellsinger and what he was playing?

Phew it has been quite the month! Thanks all.

Note! There is more about this project here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

Also note & note! The very top image is from a medieval document where the scribe added fighting snails, for reasons.

Space Elves Command Group

So yes, from a time when Eldar were sometimes called ‘Space Elves’ as the audience got used to the faction. I love that the musician has a harp - very Elven!

(Image - An advert from White Dwarf showing a range of Eldar Command Group miniatures. Source Stuff of Legends)

Here is another picture showing what a fantastically designed bunch of miniatures they were!

(Some unpainted Eldar miniatures, including some of the Command Group. Source Rufus the Wizzard. More here.)

No. 4010 Imperial Guard - WD109 (Jan 1989)

The Imperial Guard had a take on them that was very Napoleonic, which you can see expressed perfectly in John Blanche’s terrific art for the 1989 plastic boxed set. So it flows quite well to have them also have a Command Squad option.

(The 1989 Imperial Guard Command Squad (and others!) - notable is the Commander, Sergeant, Captain and Orderly. Source - Stuff of Legends. You can still get such units in the current game including these great ones of Cadian and Catachan units.)

No. RT202 Space Ork Command Group - WD97 (Jan 88)

Orks may be raucous and chaotic but it does not mean they can’t get in on the organisation via Command Squad! Of course the musicians here are drummers.

(Image - An Ork command Squad set of miniatures including standard bearers, musicians and commanders. Source Stuff of Legends)

Space Dwarf Command Group

Also given their more fantasy-centric name back then, this Squat unit is named ‘Space Dwarf’. It featured a cool keyboard-playing musician with a speaker on his shoulder and a very Roman-inspired standard-bearer.

(Image - A range of models that is the Space Dwarf Command Group. Source - Book of the Astronomican)

No. 1103 Space Marine Command Squad

Found in the 1999 Citadel Catalog, this box contained 5 metal miniatures. So while technically outside the Rogue Trader era, I put them here because I like the models.

(Image - Source, Dakka Dakka, this unit type still exists, see here)

Happily, the legacy of Command Squads did not end with the Rogue Trader era and you can still get current 40K command squads such as the Krieg Command Squad, the Catachan Command Squad and the Space Marine MKIII Legion Command Squad.

Thanks for reading!

Links of Note

• Amazing Titus Command Squad (Reddit)

• The John Blanche miniatures that shaped wargaming (Wargames Illustrated video)

• Aeldari showcase – Corsairs join the followers of the Whispering God

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

These were a staple of the early Warhammer games and seems to be a legacy of the fact that many of the original creatives behind both Warhammer Fantasy and 40K Rogue Trader also enjoyed more ‘traditional’ wargaming. Why was this? Well, such models were a staple of historic wargaming. To quote from the draft timeline of the book:

1970 would also see the release of the book ‘Battle! Practical Wargaming’ by Charles Grant. These wargaming rules would be cited as influential by many of those who would go on to create Warhammer 40,000 and its evolution, including games designers Rick Preistley and Jervis Johnson. As Rick Priestley noted in an interview for this book, “The bedrock of wargaming was in historical wargaming.”

As historical wargaming reflected the warfare of the pre-radio era (and I’m paraphrasing a much more complex history here) such as Napoleonics, Medieval and Ancients settings. Command was hard work!

“It’s still very difficult. Command and control is very, very difficult in an era without immediate communication. You are looking at visual indicators, you have audio indicators, drums, bugles, pipes, and flags, and your commander’s voice.” (From Dan Snow’s History Hit: The Battle of Gettysburg)

Basically back then, armies needed a means to both identify and co-ordinate units. As such unit standards (and various other flags & banners) were a way that leaders could identify units amid the dust and chaos of a battle. As they held such a key place in battle, standards also often held a place of honor for the unit and so were displayed and defended with vigor.

(Images - Top/Left is a Roman standard bear from Trajan’s Column and the source is here. Bottom/Right, an Ultra Marine standard bearer. Source Lexicanum.)

Then there are musicians; the instruments could be used to signal commands to units, and within units to advance, retreat or re-form. The beat or sound of the music could also create cohesion in movement as moving a lot of people in the same direction so they don’t end up a mess, needs good co-ordination; hence marching! It also helped to reinforce unit morale as units adopted marching songs to reflect their identity.

(Images - Top/Left is a depiction of the salpinx, a sort of trumpet instrument of the ancient Greeks where the source is pg.79 here and bottom/right is a High Elf trumpeter from Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Source eBay/katekus-77 )

The commander would also often be distinct in battle, as with standards and musicians, so the troops could identify him which promoted the morale of the army plus he would also be accompanied by other officers and specialist units so he could perform his role of HQ.

However as radio technology developed and the long-range weapons of war, such as the sniper rifle, arrived, both standing out on the battlefield and having to use music to signal dropped from combat use. It didn’t, however, drop from ceremonial use though and even today most military forces still have both. So it is heartening to know that 40,000 years into the future, they still find a place on the field of battle!

So as Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader dawned, its connective legacy to its sister fantasy game was evident not only in the rules and factions but also in their structure as it transposed the fixed lines of battle into an SF setting. As such the Rogue Trader era saw a glorious flowering of Command Squads!

In the next part - we’ll take a look at a few!

(Image - A group of Imperial Guard Command Squad miniatures, showing a Commissar as well as a Captain and Standard-Bearer)

Thanks for reading! Do come back for part 2…

Links of Note

• My guest appearance on the excellent Grognard Files podcast talking about the book and Chaos.

• Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 - Official Gameplay Trailer | IGN Fan Fest 2026

• Classic John Blanche Mordheim figures (Wargames Illustrated video)

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

Part Five - Robots!

This time it is the rise of the robots! It is not hard to think of memorable SF series with robots as key characters - Star Wars, Star Trek, The Matrix films, the Alien franchise, Blade Runner, Lost in Space, Terminator and so on. Often how they are composed, and reacted too, by the humans in the story is a core part of the narrative energy of the setting. So it is not a surprise upon opening the hallowed pages of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader (mostly pages 42-43 and 117-119) we also find references to them within (pg. 42);

Robots are a part of everyday life in human and alien society. Vehicles and any comparable machines can be effectively turned into robots by the installation of appropriate auto-systems (auto-drive, auto-aim and auto-fac). These auto-systems provide the equivalent of a human operator, and are fully capable of discriminating, making decisions and taking appropriate action. So, for example, a las-cannon with auto-aim can be fired just as if it had a crewman.

What we are interested in, is of course though is, not robot for driving along or factory work, but robots for war! (also pg.42)

The greater majority of robots are simple runarounds, workmen or toys, and have no place on the battlefield. Warrior robots, however. are different. They are machines created specifically for war as the soldiery by proxy for a living, biological race. In human space, the Emperor’s Tech-priests are continually experimenting with and Improving their dread warrior legions of robots - machines implanted with the will to slay and despoil.

(Image - A part picture, part schematics image of a war-robot holding a morning star weapon from the front and side. From page 42 of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader)

So early on we get robots and yes they are described akin to the robots of classical SF that would have influenced Rick and the other creators of early 40K, but we also get mentions of the ‘Emperor’s Tech-priests’ who would, in time, become the fully fledged faction of the Mechanicum. Rogue Trader pg. 132 sets the ball rolling:

The Adeptus Mechanicus are also known as the Tech-priests. They are the guardians of all the ancient arcane technology, the last remnants of what (in a more primitive age) would have been called science. Chief amongst their tasks is the servicing and maintaining of the machinery that gives the Emperor life.

(Image - An old Crusader Class Imperial robot miniature from Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader. Thanks to Matt ‘Wib’ Ward for permission to use the image - find out more about Snipe & Wib here.)

In Rogue Trader’s gameplay terms, Robots are a hybrid of standard warrior units and vehicle profiles with the stats block mostly akin to what a humans, Space Marines, Orks or even monsters have but with the ‘Wounds’ characteristic replaced with 'Damage Points and adding in vehicle-type malfunction outcomes from any damage taken.

So this may sound like an odd choice for a key object - as in Rogue Trader they are not central to the setting and don’t stand out much especially when compared with others like Space Marine, Ork or Eldar.

The reason I think Robots are a key alternative object is the journey: From Rogue Trader in 1987, the next iteration comes in White Dwarf 104 from August 1988. In a Chapter Approved we would see more references to the the Mechanicum using ritual and superstition as much as technical know-how and we would get units that now are composed and played quite differently. The rules for robots would become thier own thing, with build-points, systems and specialist options like bombot racks. Most interestingly robots are given ‘program instructions’ which forces them to play in accordance with pre-written rules of action.

(Image - A Bombot’s instruction program from page 22 of White Dwarf 104)

There are also hints as to the biological basis for intelligence that will replace the more classic assumed form of robots thus far.

(Image - A member of a Adeptus Mechanicus delves into the innards of a robot and its ‘bioplasic’ from White Dwarf 104, Page 22.)

So as Robots were developed in the setting the idea of the limitations of thier cognition grew. Those described in WD 104 can later be interpreted as deliberately hobbled automated simple systems that follow simple programs and can’t ‘think’ for themselves on the battlefield. Later, in WD 178 the Mechanicum would get a back-story that expanded and explained the strange mix of superstition and technology that drives them. While this article explains the faction’s past it is in service of the current Titan and Imperial Knight forces.

Later still the idea of how AI is portrayed in the setting is developed and robots become even more slaved to humans via Doctrina Wafers. Later added to this are the Tau drones, the Leagues of Votann’s Ancestor Cores, the Necons and the Men of Iron and more. The net result is robotic beings that are very much a 40K-thing. It is they journey that make robots - a classic of SF - a key item for 40K Rogue Trader.

Thanks for reading!

PS. A few links of note:

• Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun II details branching story, optional worlds

• Oh and why not check out the Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! demo?

• Speaking of robots - the new Skitarii heavies are dope.

• Also enjoyed the latest from Olden Demon.

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

(Image - An old Cataphract Class Imperial robot miniature from Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader. Thanks to Matt ‘Wib’ Ward for permission to use the image - find out more about Snipe & Wib here.)

Part Four - Space Vampires!

Vampires are very much a cultural touchstone of horror and gothic fantasy. Set in our past, Dracula is a fantastical novel whereby a group of heroes attempt to stop the global threat of vampirism as it arrives at the shores of late Victorian England. As such while most of Dracula/vampire adaptations are also set in the past, a handful of creators have sought to imagine them as monsters of the future. In the 1935 story ‘The Shambler from the Stars’ by Robert Bloch, vampires become more SF as they are depicted as trans-dimensional beings. The 1976 novel ‘The Space Vampires’ by Colin Wilson has them as energy sucking, body-transferring horrors (later made into the 1985 film ‘Lifeforce’.

In the 1965 film ‘Planet of the Vampires’ they become body-stealing corpse-reanimators from an alien world. This in-turn inspires Alien, which in turn, is one of the many SF media artefacts that inspires 40K.

So why am I writing about Space Vampires? I feel it represents the cultural inspiration and evolution of gothic horror into a new SF setting, that of Rogue Trader. So while D&D casts an influential shadow of fantasy and the genre into space, the creatures from the shadows of our nightmares such as Star Vampires, bring the gothic horror into space. Without these inspirations, 40K does not have that gothic horror element that will become the 40K we know and love.

(Image - Two human crew members take cover behind the landing gear of a spaceship. A still from the 1965 film ‘Planet of the Vampires’. Source here.)

So while the Star Vampire of mythos fame was far from new to Games Workshop; White Dwarf 56 back in 1984, where a Call of Cthulhu scenario set in the far future, would feature a Star Vampire. (One could think of its appearance casting a cosmic shadow perhaps foreshadowing the SF-fantasy crossover to come?) Rogue Trader would have its own take on the SF vampire, titled simply ‘Vampire’. On pages 205/206 of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader we get this Vampire stat block as monster that the GM can drop into play:

(Image - Combined image from pages 205/206 of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, combined by author)

The Rogue Trader version of a SF vampire has a melding of ideas - it has the bat-like form and shapeshifting of gothic fame, it draws on psychic energy-feeding that is also in the 1976 novel The Space Vampires, and it has parasitism that is also in 1965’s Planet of the Vampires. Plus it shares the the corpse-animating/mind-hopping abilities of both the preceding items.

While the horrors of the Chaos gods, ossification of the Imperium and the ship-swallowing-storms of the Warp will all transcend the space vampire for gothic-space horror, the initial inspirational infection comes from creatures such as these blood-sucking beings and ensured that Rogue Trader was never only going to be SF - it was going to be much more!

Thanks for reading!

PS. A few links of note:

• A visual history of Warhammer games (1991-2023)

• Cool Rogue Trader homage art

• I also wrote about ‘The Meme-ification of Gaming’ on my other newsletter.

• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV Story Trailer!!!

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

Part Three - The Chainsword!

When we think of melee weapons there are many iconic ones; King Arthur’s Excalibur, Star Wars has the lightsaber, Assassin’s Creed has the hidden knife-blade and Batman has his Batarang. Iconic weapons are a key way to identify and differentiate a setting. Sort-of ironically, Warhammer 40,000 does not feature actual warhammers much (as documented here) - but it does have the ionic Chainsword!

(Image - Page 255 from Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader showing some Tony Hough art depicting a boarding action where the lead Space Marines emerges into a barrage of counter fire, is armed with a chainsword and pistol. Photo by me.)

Back in the day, 1980s Citadel Miniatures had a thing with chainsaws, check out LE23 Chainsaw Wizard or the 1987 boardgame Chainsaw Warrior or example. This preponderance seems to have stemmed from chainsaws being part of the cultural milieu in that period, as former key Games Workshop figure, Marc Gascoigne commented in a recent interview:

“…it was part of the zeitgeist. Yeah. Characters running around with chainsaws and then Evil Dead and so on and so forth alluding to similar things..”

Interestingly fellow GW alumni Graeme Davis confirmed the observation in a comment on the video:

If I remember correctly, Chainsaw Warrior had the working title “Zero Hour” when Steve demoed it for Jervis and me at the GW Design Studio. I think it was Jervis who came up with the final title, inspired by the prevalence of chainsaws in the zeitgeist just as Marc said.

It was the creation of 40K that created the conditions for ‘chainsaws’ to become ‘chainswords.’ However, the weapon pre-dated the release of the Rouge Trader rule book with two marines being sold the month before, Brother Thaw (with the cool visor, part of the set RT01, below) and the similarly posed Capt. Huron Grimm from the set RT101.

(Image - A close-up of a Space Marine miniature model from 1987, Brother Thaw, armed with a chainsword held in both hands. This legacy runs into the modern game still with the excellent - and chainsword armed - Assault Intercessor Squad. Photo by author.)

The stat block for the item from the 40K rule book ran over two pages and was very short and to the point, I’ve merged two photos from pages 75 and 76 for this image:

(Image - Pages 75 and 76 of the equipment section of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader)

So you’ll see its a reasonably strong weapon, does cut though armour to an extent and - that’s it. For comparison it is not as good as a Power Sword or Power Axe, but it is better than a Las Pistol or just fists.

Why is it a key item? Its a great example of how, during the game’s creation the inspiration of the wider culture would filter into the game but in a way that would become its own thing.

Indeed the Chainsword is now so iconic that even in the hit video game Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun (disclosure, I ran the studio that made it, back then) despite the gun-centric nature of the title, you still had your trusty Chainsword!

Thanks for reading!

PS. A few links of note:

• What was the First Warhammer in Warhammer 40k? - Codex Compliant

• Shout out to boneswords too!

• Reddit fun! Rogue trader era marine names were truly special

• The video game studio I’d co-founded is very Warhammer-busy! Exciting! (Note - I’m no longer part of it, so I get to be just excited as a player!)

  • Oh and Wishlist Boltgun 2 now!

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

Part two! - PBS1 Skeleton Horde!

(Image - The cover of the Skeleton Horde boxed set, art by John Blanche. The images shows a vast horde of animated and armed skeleton warriors marking to war. Image via GW via Stuff of Legends. GW does Skelletons to this day - check out the Deathrattle Skeletons!)

This was an excellent plastic boxed set that came with the parts to assemble 24 Skeleton warriors. As the bodies, arms etc were separate you could combine them with weapons, shields etc to really had fun. (I know I did!) Now, this was very much not a 40K product, nor one that had rules to allow it to be re-used for the setting (whereas other fantasy miniatures very much could) so why pick it? Plus it came out around September 1986 in White Dwarf issue 81 - well before Rogue Trader? To quote from the book draft:

WD issue 81 featured an advert for a new plastic boxed set, the Skeleton Horde, which the advert noted would be available late September. The cover art was by John Blanche and the box text by Graeme Davis. While, as noted in this timeline, this was not the first plastic model kit by Citadel, it was an expansive kit with multiple parts and gave the player lots of self assembly options. It set the mould (pun intended) for future sets including the fellow classic RTB01, whom we shall meet in a year on this very timeline.

For this was not the first plastics GW had done; that honour went to the Fighting Fantasy miniatures that Citadel sold in 1985 followed by ‘Psychostyrene Dwarfs’ in the autumn of ‘85. Also, what is the pun intended?

Well, the RTB01 - the boxed set of plastic Space Marines that sold like hot cakes and helped lift the offering of 40K Rogue Trader to players - the Skeleton Horde shared a literal mould with them:

To facilitate Citadel making the, now iconic, plastic marines for 40K Rogue Trader, it would mitigate the costs by treating RTB01 more of a test of the plastic tooling. So the sprues for RTB01 would be a smaller insert sitting alongside the Skeleton Horde boxed set, to make it more cost effective. (See Alan Merrett in Conversation with Jordan Sorcery)

So no Skelton Horde, no RTB01! This boxed set was the perfect accompaniment to the book release and was key in setting up the Space Marine as the iconic 40K unit.

(Image - Some of page 73 from White Dwarf 93 showing assembled and painted Space Marines, created from the boxed set coded RTB01.)

Not only that, but the move into plastics, which had started in 1985, accelerated into 1987 for both 40K and Fantasy Battle and helped shape the future of wargaming for all games.

(Image - The cover of RTB01, which shared the same iconic John Sibbick art as the cover for 40K Rogue Trader, the book. Image GW via Stuff of Legends. More on this here!)

What is in the list of your 5 Rogue Trader objects? Do le me know!?

Also, thanks for reading!

PS. A few links of note:

• Wib: “New short! On very tiny Space Marines!” Fab stuff.

• Rogue Trader era A Tarellian Dog Soldiers arrive! (Via Jordan Sorcery)

• New Custodies! Check them out, very cool models.

• New model reveals for 2026 - I do like the Eldritch Raiders.

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.

(Image - Three generations Skaven miniatures in a row armed with bladed weapons. Left two are plastic and the right one is metal. Phot thanks to Dylan Shipley.)