40 Years of Warhammer: Miniature Retrospective – Archaon Lord of the End Times
The Greatest Champion of Chaos rides is here from Games Workshop. Archaon, Lord of the End Times is under the retro spotlight.
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 closer look at Archaon’s Old World miniature. His iconic look not only helped shape the mythology of Chaos Warriors but also did something no other champion of chaos had done before — he WON.
“Archaon was a towering figure of such dark fury and iron will that he could unite the many unruly hordes of Chaos – from the jockeying tribes of the Northern Wastes to fallen and corrupted champions of the Empire. Through sheer ambition and will, he forged one of the largest armies the Old World had ever seen, before plunging it all into ruin. “
Archaon, Lord of the End Times
Archaon’s history might be lost to time in the Mortal Realms but thankfully we still have records of his deeds. He was named Diederick Kastner and was a follower of Sigmar before events led him down a darker road. Destiny had plans for him and he answered the call. This particular Archaon model might be his most iconic (at least before his current iteration) but it wasn’t even the first version of his model.
The OG Archaon model was more subdued. Still, it’s features were infused from the chaos range of the time. The updated Archaon, Lord of the End Times model came from a revamp of the chaos line during he Hordes of Chaos project. This was a massive undertaking that split the forces of Chaos out into different army books and also helped to launch the Storm of Chaos campaign.
“With his moulded Chaos Wastes base, great horned helmet set with the Eye of Sheerian, malevolent plate armour matched by the gnarly barding on the wild-eyed Dorghar, cape billowing in the corrupted winds of magic, and the Slayer of Kings held out in an imperious declaration of war, Archaon set the bar for all Chaos Lords – and all named characters – to follow in his hoofsteps.”
This version of Archaon’s look and feel still resonates with the newer Chaos Lords to this day. As an example, here’s the Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount and you can see the inspiration and similarities:
Archaon would eventually get an even larger and more grandiose miniature with his conquering of the Mortal Realms. While Archaon stayed mostly the same it was really his mount Dorghar who got the massive improvement:
While Archaon might be a “mere mortal” he’s kicked so much butt across time that not even the Chaos Gods can deny him. We salute Archaon, Lord of the End Times and his awesome models over the years!
For the Everchosen!
