Angron. The Butcher of Nuceria. The Red Angel. The Daemon Primarch of Khorne. The warp convulses in terrified anticipation, as this eternally-damned killer prepares to make his wrathful return to the grim darkness of the far future.
The angriest of the Emperor’s forsaken sons is back with a jaw-dropping new model – resplendent with fury and rippling with spikes, skulls, and armour plate. How was this fearsome centrepiece sculpted? With time, effort, and ineffable skill. We spoke to miniatures designer Darren, the mastermind behind the crimson tyrant – and no stranger to crafting eldritch titans – to learn the devilish details.
Warhammer Community: Giving life to a character like Angron must have been daunting. How did you approach it?
Darren: It was a lot of responsibility, but I had good references to work from – including the Forge World miniature and artwork from the Horus Heresy – including depictions of him as a daemon.*
Having a firm understanding of what Angron looked like during the Great Crusade gave me elements I could riff on to make him identifiable as Angron straight away – things like the Butcher’s Nails and his armour, which is a direct reference to the Armour of Mars worn by his Forge World miniature.
It was important that I didn’t tip too far into the Bloodthirster angle. I needed to keep some humanity there – well, Space Marine “humanity”, at least – so there are lots of jacks and plugs on his body, as well as pipes that link to his armour. These convey a sense of function, and suggest his origins as a mortal being.
WarCom: How did you decide on the look of his two weapons, Spinegrinder and Samni’arius?
Darren: I did my homework first – Angron uses weapons until they break, and then he throws them away, so that let me work with new weapons. One of the concepts we worked on had Angron holding an interesting-looking sword with a double-hooked end, and I thought it could hark back to the Black Blade.**
It also proved an excellent contrast to the more mechanical giant chain axe – which he needs, of course, because he’s a warrior of Khorne! Spinegrinder has two rows of chain teeth – Angron’s weapon needed to be bigger and more brutal than anyone’s. Both weapons are shackled to him, and I like to imagine that until they break, he never puts them down, not even for dinner.
WarCom: What lessons did you take from previous Daemon Primarchs, or other miniatures you’ve sculpted like Be’lakor?
Darren: As the third Daemon Primarch, Angron has to sit next to Mortarion and Magnus and have his own unique profile and silhouette on the tabletop. Contrasting his soaring and the statuesque brothers, Angron is posed low to the ground – he’s just landed, he looks heavy and muscular, and he’s ready to attack.
My work on Be’lakor gave me a lot of experience with wings, which take a lot of work to pose well. Every Khorne daemon is covered with skulls, but they help you understand his scale.*** Even the rivets on his armour are the same size as the rivets on a regular Space Marine’s suit.
WarCom: Are there any specific details you really enjoyed working on?
Darren: The Butcher’s Nails were a fun challenge – I wanted them to look like they were almost alive, and that some had torn away from Angron’s head through all the years of fighting. There’s a lot of interesting negative space and shadows formed by the more 3D interpretation of the cables we can do in plastic now.
There is also a lot of texture on the miniature – cracked leathery skin and wing membranes brushing up against sharp, pointed Khornate fur. These organic textures contrast against the corrupted power armour with its flat ceramite panels and ornate trim, which has lots of battle damage and daemonic teeth emerging. Those details can help inform your decisions as a painter, and are always fun to work on as a designer.
I also enjoyed working on all the chains and trophies hanging over his body, which add real weight and motion. I tried to ensure he had enough to convey his size, weight, and station, but not so many that they would be a chore to paint.
Angron took me an awful lot of time and effort, but it was worth it. He has a very three-dimensional composition, so when you have him in your hands and turn him, you’ll just keep seeing all sorts of new details for yourself, little Easter eggs.
There’s the Astartes power pack and mechanical pipes that show his armour was once a practical construct, and elements like the leather pteruges and straps that have survived from his gladiatorial days. It was a great project to work on.
WarCom: Thanks so much for your time, Darren.
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* You’ll find some of that incredible Angron art – including the first depiction of his daemon-form – in Visions of Heresy on the Warhammer Vault.
** The Black Blade was wielded by Angron during his duel with Sanguinius, and was later broken on Armageddon by the Grey Knight Hyperion.
*** We checked with the ‘Eavy Metal studio, and including the handful that were added to the base, their painted version of Angron boasts a whopping 122 skulls. That’s enough to account for a whole army…