Even for a Space Marine, Commander Dante has been around the block. At 1,500 years old he’s still trucking, and not even crossing the Rubicon Primaris or battling Angron, Daemon Primarch of Khorne can stop this gleaming god of war from descending into battle on his jetpack.
The Lion definitely did his best to try and steal the limelight from the golden boy of the Blood Angels recently, but painters still hold a torch for this legendary son of Sanguinius and provided us with a selection of superb renditions.
Adrian Phillips
Adrian from Tabletop Titans leads the charge with a Death Company Dante that includes plenty of variations on the Chapter’s favourite colour, contrasting alongside burnished gold and crisply highlighted black.
Alejandro Mancuso
Miniatures like Dante are the perfect palette to practise the non-metallic metal technique, and older fans will know the original ‘Eavy Metal version of Dante was a premier example of this technique. Alejandro from the La Voz de Horus podcast has continued the tradition.
Aleksandra Cvetanovski
Previously, Marko from Craftworld Studio provided us with a unique take on The Lion, and Aleksandra has done the same. This take on NMM makes him look like a painting come to life, with the expert placement of coloured reflections across the armour.
Darcy Bono
Darcy leans into the Blood Angels’ history with the Tyranids by adding a gruesome detail to the base, but the star of the show here is the glowing weapon effects that really make the Axe Mortalis and the Perdition Pistol look like the powerful relics they are.
Garfy
A little birdie tells us that Garfy is kicking off a new Blood Angels army ahead of the new edition of Warhammer 40,000, and what better centrepiece than Dante? For the Blood Angels, there isn’t one – especially when he’s painted so finely.*
Jennie Ruskin
We feel bad for the Chapter serf that has to work on the abs and toes of this newly upgraded artificer armour, but we’re glad that Jennie got to provide us with a very polished version.
Joshua Hill
Joshua has also gone for a metallic-metal look on Dante, drawing out a different tone to other entries. We’re a big fan of seeing all the different results painters get when they all work on the same miniature.
Matthew Herrington
As if to reiterate what we were saying, Matthew from Goonhammer has crafted a visage of pale gold. The subtle green shading in the recess brings out a totally different look to the brassier gold often associated with this living legend.
Mikael ‘Migsula’ Silvanto
Mikael gives us a grittier take. Buffed gold and oiled weapons contrast against the sombre basing to make this Dante stand out like the icon he is.
Spencer Stone
Spencer has gone for a more muted take, which works with the basing to place him right in the muck and blood of the 41st millennium. Subtle lighting effects on the armour elements closest to the power axe really sell the look.
Thomas Reidy
Another more muted Dante comes from Thomas at Bell of Lost Souls. Heavier contrast on the armour grounds him, as much as you can make a golden angel descending from the heavens feel more grounded.
Vincent Knotley
Ever the wildcard, Vincent has gone for something completely different with his Dante and painted him blue. Blue! That’s not gold, red, or even Death Company black! It is absolutely fantastic, though, so we’ve no choice but to give this Dante a solid thumbs up.
Commander Dante is available to pre-order now. Share your own versions with us on the official Warhammer Twitter page when you’ve finished painting him.
* Ok, so perhaps Mephiston would dispute that.