Warhammer 40K: That Xenos Artwork
Can we talk about that Xenos Artwork for Warhammer 40,000 9th edition?!
Alright everyone we need to take a moment and address one of the coolest and possibly most teasery images Games Workshop has shown us for 9th edition. Yesterday, GW showed off some of the new artwork and it’s pretty great stuff. But one image in particular jumped out at us here at BoLS.
Uh…what the heck is going on here!? Here is what GW said:
“This piece showcases a few of the many perils that await Humanity out in the cold darkness of space. From nameless alien horrors and robotic menaces to monstrous creatures that evoke the horrors of Chaos, there’s loads here to pore over – and more like it to enjoy (or have nightmares about) in the book.”
There are so many things going on here, we had to break it down and talk about it. The last time we got something this teasery was the third edition book:
The Breakdown
In this first image we have three things going on. First, on the left, we have some gibbering maws – they seem Nurgle-ish to me. And GW did say that this image had some Chaos elements to it. That’s probably what the three eyes on the right of the image are (chaos-y stuff). But what is that thing in the middle?! An Orb with wires strewn about it. Maybe it’s some type of Machine Spirit thing.
Like that…but possibly bigger.
Speaking of Machines and Chaos – is this a Lord of Skulls but from the Iron Warriors? It’s got the Skulls. It’s got the Hazard Stripes. But it could be more Defiler sized. It’s some sort of techno-monster and we dig it!
Here’s another amazing section. On the left we have some new types of alien creatures clearly causing that Guardsmen some pain. Could they be new and improved versions of Enslavers? How cool would that be!
They are certainly more technological than biological but the big Orb-heads are eerily similar. Could they be related? We hope so! And what about the strange skull with more wires and plugs coming out of it? What’s up with the black-diamond thing above it? It’s some creepy Hellraiser stuff going on…
On first glance, I saw this and thought “Oh it’s a Genestealer Cult thing.” But after actually looking at it, this creature has strange thing on it’s face where eyes should be! Is it a gun? Some type of sensor array? What is it so…Genestealer Cult-like? It’s got a pretty weird hunched over look, too. It’s freaky I tell ya.
The FUNGUS AMONG US! I 100% want this to be a new army in 40k now. I don’t know what the heck is going on, but it’s a strange Mushroom man with multiple guns and he’s got friends. Finally, we get something in the art that isn’t just a humanoid but weird. This thing has 3 “legs” as well – we need more stuff like this in the Grimdark!
Here’s the last thing we’re going to cover. What the crap is this?! Tyranid? But the maw is…different. It also has 3 arms and lights on it’s back. I dunno what is going on, but it’s also cool and slightly terrifying.
Well folks, Games Workshop has some crazy new artwork coming in the new edition. Are they planting seeds for what’s to come or just giving us some Nightmare fuel? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Why not both?
