The vast armies of Legions Imperialis are mustering closer than you think. It’s just that they’re small so they seem very far away.
We’ve covered every miniature in the launch box (and a few more) and we’ve taken an epic scale walk down memory lane, so now we come to the crux of the matter: just how do they make tanks that small? Is there some sort of debigulation machine? Is the Big Warhammer Secret really an army of trained ants wielding tiny sculpting tools?
To uncover the mysteries of these formations of intricate infantry and tiny tanks, we spoke to Andy from the Warhammer Design Studio on camera, and Daren from the team for some follow up written questions.
Warhammer Community: So tell us, what exactly are the settings on the debigulation machine?
Daren: I am sorry to reveal that there is no such machine! Scaling our sculpts down to epic scale is an interesting challenge. The initial step of resizing them is relatively easy, but the real challenge is figuring out how to retain the essence of each kit compared with their Horus Heresy counterpart. We also have to take into account what every force will look like on the table when fielded in large numbers, and how much effort that will take for a player to create – it’s very much a balancing act.
WarCom: What challenges did you face making miniatures in this scale?
Daren: There is a little compromise between accurately representing the details of the larger kit, and making something that people will enjoy putting together, painting, and playing with. By necessity certain aspects have to change, for technical and aesthetic reasons. You can’t expect people to make a six-part Tactical Space Marine in a game that can require hundreds to play, so simple infantry are the way forward.*
The next step is deciding which elements really define each kit, and make them identifiable at epic scale. Take the Solar Auxilia tanks – they have certain aspects that define them at the Horus Heresy scale – rivets, trim, and archaic design elements – that have to be retained even if it isn’t strictly accurate. If you measure a rivet on a Legions Imperialis Malcador, it won’t be the “right” size, but it’s visually important that it feels right.
WarCom: What did Adeptus Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis teach you about designing at this scale?
Daren: We found early on that if you want to translate details and design elements to a smaller size, you really need to know what they look like at full size first. You could design a model exclusively for Titanicus, Aeronautica, or Legions Imperialis, but identifying exactly what makes a unit retain its identity when shrunk down and you’re forced to make decisions with certain details is a lot harder this way.
We conceptualise things with artwork and so on, much like how we might have started with a three-up scale model** back in the day. It’s important to us that everything is consistent across both sizes, so that players can envisage and even create their armies in both systems.
WarCom: With nearly all of the miniatures in Legions Imperialis having a direct counterpart in Horus Heresy, how did this affect design?
Daren: As I've mentioned, one thing we are really keen on is players and collectors being able to look at their collection in one system and directly recreate it in another. Naturally this is restricted a little by what’s available, but you could feasibly take your Legiones Astartes collection and downsize it into a single detachment in Legions Imperialis.
We also wanted to ensure that this new system continues to fill out the Horus Heresy setting. The books talk about battles of incredible scale all the time, and soon you’ll be able to play them out in all their grandeur on the tabletop, but being able to pick out a Praetor and make the link between the design of that miniature and your full-sized Praetor helps ground it all.
WarCom: Which are your favourite miniatures?
Honestly it’s the Solar Auxilia tanks for me. I love the originals and picking the elements to keep as we resized them really helped convey just how different they are from the tanks of the Space Marines. These are tanks that are polished up and painted to parade standard, then sent out to fight terrible wars.
On the whole we’re incredibly proud of how the miniatures have turned out. It’s hard to put into words, but designing them to have all this detail on gives them a sort of impact that’s very different from the usual sized models we make. I’ve still got the Aeronautica Imperialis Thunderhawk Gunship on my desk at work because it was such a breakthrough moment in the amount of detail we could convey on a miniature at that size, and it has an impact that’s very different from the full-sized one. Plus it’s a lot easier to keep next to my computer, unlike the colossal Forge World flyer.
Thanks Daren! We’re continuing our look at Legions Imperialis later in the week with a Solar Auxilia spotlight on Heresy Thursday, and more articles over the coming weeks as we get closer to release.
* Though people may remember that we did make one, as a one-off item, in the past.
** When sculpting for plastics used to be done by hand, model makers would sculpt the master model at triple scale.