The realm of fantasy is the crucible from which Warhammer first emerged. Armour-plated Chaos Warriors set the scene alongside endless legions of the dead, and iconic characters, but what fantasy is complete without ferocious monsters?
Citadel designed and created a lot of fantastical monsters over the years, everything from hydras and manticores, to hippogryphs and wyverns. But few were as majestic as the legendary Imperial Dragon.
Perhaps the largest miniature available in the late 1980s, the Imperial Dragon was so big that it didn’t even have sculpted wings! Instead, you created your own wing membranes out of paper or tin foil to cover the dactyly (the fingers of the wing). Incredibly, this beastie was also all metal, which required a lot of superglue and much pinning to prevent him from falling apart!
Whether good, evil, or somewhere in between, Dragons have always been a huge part of Warhammer Fantasy. Many variations have cropped up over the years as we show in this article. One thing you can be sure of, however, riding a dragon, griffon or similar winged creature inevitably marks a lord out as exceedingly powerful and something to be feared on the tabletop.
Elven dragons were the most numerous, serpentine creatures with wide mouths and shearing claws, a far cry from the hefty Imperial Dragon with its 24” wingspan. These elegant monsters ruled for a time, but brawnier draconic forms have emerged in the Age of Sigmar.
These days, Stormcast Eternals heroes ride hefty Draconiths into battle. The forces of Order are allied with Krondys and Karazai, the mighty sons of Dracothion.* These colossal heroes aren’t anyone’s ride into battle, and their classic features and imposing wingspans hark back to the dragons of yore.
Next week we’ll be hopping back into Warhammer 40,000 to examine yet another milestone miniature.
* The Celestial Drake who fixed the remains of the World-that-Was in the firmament of Azyr.