40 Years of Warhammer: Miniature Retrospective – Bloodthirster

The Bloodthirster is an iconic Warhammer Miniature. That’s in no small part to today’s featured miniature from the mid 90s!

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Warhammer and Games Workshop is taking some time to look back at miniatures that had a big impact on their work. Today we’re getting a Bloodthirster that might not be the OG but it’s certainly one that make a huge impact on Warhammer!

via Warhammer Community

“Red, mad, and wearing scorched brass armour, Bloodthirsters are the furious expression of the martial might of Khorne, the god of war, blood, and skulls. This metal miniature was Khorne’s exemplar for more than a decade, bestriding the battlefields of the Old World and the 41st Millennium, its nightmarish bovine/canine features twisted into a horrendous visage of exquisite apoplexy.”

The Mighty Bloodthirster

The Bloodthirster above model served for many years as the staple Greater Daemon of Khorne. His iconic Axe and whip are still features you can see in the Bloodthirsters of today — as well as weapon options within the followers of Khorne’s tool kit.

While this iconic model might not of been the first, it was certainly one of the most memorable ones GW ever produced.

“In all, nine Bloodthirster models have been made by Citadel: the original metal miniature from the late 1980s, today’s featured daemon from the mid 90s, an Epic scale Bloodthirster, a towering Exalted Bloodthirster from Forge World, Skarbrand the Exile, the current kit which makes a Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury, a Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage, and a Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster, and Ka’Bandha the Daemon General.”

Also, because the Bloodthirster was SO iconic it actually inspired a TON of other winged creatures and “muscle-bound horrors” over the years. Obvious ones are creatures like Be’lakor or the recently unleashed Angron. But there’s lots of other models who wings have a very similar look to the Bloodthirster…you just have to know what to look for.

Pour one out from your skull goblet for the Bloodthirster!

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.