Designing The Daemons Of Wrath And Rapture
For fans of 40K and Age of Sigmar, Wrath and Rapture offers up a duet of daemonic delights, decadently dual-purposed, these models can be used in either game. Today we take a look at what went into their new design.
GW has been killing it with their new model design lately. When it comes to creating beautiful minis, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who disagrees–and there’s nobody better when it comes to putting together a sprue. Wrath and Rapture brings new hotness to both Khorne and Slaanesh, both of which are due for some love these days. With the new Khorne Dogs and Fiends stirring up interest in the dark distant past of a few months ago, let’s look at what went into making these slabs of gruesome greatness.
via Warhammer Community
The following commentary comes to you courtesy of designer Christian Hardy:
Flesh Hounds have existed in the background for many years – so long, in fact, that certain details are synonymous with them, such as their iconic frills and the brass collars clasped around their necks. We also already had two plastic Flesh Hounds in Grizzlemaw and Riptooth, so I based the anatomy of the new Flesh Hounds on them.
As Daemons of Khorne, they are built for strength rather than speed, appearing as creatures akin to fearsome, reptilian dogs.
Every part of their being is designed for the kill at the end of the chase, so in addition to large claws and teeth, they have hooked or barbed tips on their tails as well as horns, spikes and and long spines running the length of their backs. They are poised as if either leaping in for the kill or savouring the terror of their cornered prey. To help tie them in with the existing range, I gave their skin a mottled callus effect like the Bloodletters, and burning brands of Khorne along their flanks like the Juggernauts.
Karanak has been designed with an even greater eye to detail. Each of the heads plays into the lore of Karanak:
I wanted each head to portray an aspect of Karanak’s famed abilities – his right head has an additional pair of eyes that can pierce the veil of time, and his left head has a forked tongue that enables him to track his prey upon the skeins of fate. Meanwhile, the central head is thrown back as it utters an otherworldly howl that calls other Flesh Hounds to join the hunt. One of Karanak’s heads has even taken a bite out of another’s frill, such is the ferocity with which he tears at his prey!
And on the Slaaneshi side of things, Samir Battisotti brings us the new Fiends of Slaanesh, and Maxime Corbeil is responsible for the Infernal Enrapturess.
Samir: I’ve always been fascinated by the contrary nature of the Fiends of Slaanesh. Despite being unnatural creations, they are at the same time elegant and lithe, alluring and impossible to resist in spite of their hideous forms. I mean, they even wear elegant robes and jewellery!
From a design point of view, they’ve always had a number of instantly identifiable characteristics that were important to capture on the miniatures – clawed limbs, protruding sensory tongues, stingers on their tails and an opposing inversion of their front and rear legs. It was essential that the new miniatures replicated these integral features in order to retain their identity.
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Maxime: The Infernal Enrapturess represents the extremity of excess and sensation – that’s what she is channelling and weaponising with her heartstring lyre. Whereas a Noise Marine blasts his victims apart with brutal cacophonies of sonic force, an Infernal Enrapturess is literally playing with the emotions of her living instrument to blissfully torment her audience (read as “enemies”) with ecstatic, but similarly terminal consequences. I imagined the supplicant that serves as her instrument was once some sort of musical virtuoso, corrupted by his love of excess or desire to perfect his art. He’s still creating music, but probably not in the manner he first imagined!
Wrath and Rapture is coming this weekend, bringing the first of a new breed of Daemonhost with it. As part of the Realm’s of Chaos line, I imagine this is only the beginning. Sure there’s still a Tzeentch/Nurgle mashup to do, but who knows what other Daemons may be lurking in the background, waiting for their chance to wreak havoc upon the mortal-infested world of your choice.
Be sure and check back for more Wrath and Rapture previews, leaks, and baseless speculation as the week brings us that much closer to release day.
