40 Years of Warhammer: Miniature Retrospective – ‘Two Icons’

Games Workshop is celebrating 40 years of Warhammer this year and to kick things off they are pulling out two icons!

It’s the 40th anniversary of Warhammer this year! Games Workshop is taking a look back this year with a “year-long showcase of seminal miniatures.” We’re going to follow along and take a look back with them.

via Warhammer Community

“…to celebrate the 40th year of the world’s finest miniatures fighting shockingly deadly battles, 2023 will be packed with retrospectives. Each week our archivists will showcase a storied treasure salvaged from the depths of Warhammer history – and we’re kicking things off with two of our most iconic models.”

The first model is none other than the original anti-hero himself: Slambo!

“Clad in Chaos armour and a horned helmet, and brandishing two hefty axes, he is a vision of power. This archetypal image survives to this day, exemplified by the Slaves to Darkness in Warhammer Age of Sigmar – even those twin axes survived! “

Oh that Slambo! It’s worth noting that the look of this model would inspire the look and feel of all things Warhammer to come. You can see it’s echo in the current Chaos Warriors and even the Stormcast Eternals. And if you look hard enough, you can even see it’s imprint on the Space Marines of 40k. That’s quite the pedigree! And speaking of Space Marines…

“The first Space Marine is the spark that lit the fire – more medieval knight than sci-fi soldier, his oversized pauldrons and pointed helmet captured everyone’s imagination, and remain a touchstone for Space Marine design. “

This first Space Marine kind of blows my mind. You can see the early design elements that would carry over through the years. At the same time, you can also see some of the things that got left behind. Honestly, this model looks a lot more “Master Chief” than Primaris Marine — but that just goes to show you have far we’ve come in the hobby. It’s not just sculpting skill but also in technology and materials. There’s be a lot of advances in 40 years!

These first two models are quite the icons of 40k. I can’t wait to see what else GW pulls out of the archives!

40 years of Warhammer! Here we go…

Author: Adam Harrison

Writer, Editor, Texas Native, and now Tex-Pat, Adam covers all things Tabletop Gaming. Which includes Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, D&D, Board Games and everything else that involves dice, boards, cards and a table. A hobbyist, player, and collector of miniatures and games, Adam's current obsession are his Death and Chaos Armies for Age of Sigmar, his Blood Angels and Tyranids for 40k, an expanding collection of Marvel: Crisis Protocol minis, and his ever growing Arkham Horror: The Card Game Collection.