The Seraphon are clambering from their spawning pools and heading to pre-order tomorrow. Miniatures designers Joe and Steve were both heavily involved in breathing life into this army of arcane amphibians and their saurian followers.
Warhammer Community: How did you approach such an expansive project?
Joe: The Seraphon are interesting in that they juxtapose sophistication and savagery. In some areas, each aspect is highlighted in different miniatures – like the Slann Starmaster and the Aggradon Lancers. In other areas, these two elements exist side-by-side, such as the expertly-crafted celestite weapons and armour wielded by the hulking Saurus Warriors. Both elements help enhance the other and lend them a unique identity.
Saurus Warriors were one of the first kits we completed, because core troops help establish the narrative and identity of a faction. You can tell by their poses that these aren’t noble creatures, they fight to protect the Great Plan with ferocity and weapons forged by cold-blooded intellect. Other new miniatures had to fit into the existing range while supplementing it – the Aggraddon Lancers gave us a chance to create some impactful shock cavalry that built on the benchmark set by the Carnosaur, and they were supported by the Raptadons, who act more as nimble skirmishers.
Certain things have been refined in the new miniatures, while other elements have been changed, such as moving from the old scaled hide shields to cleaner celestite ones. This helps to bring in a stronger Old Ones influence with their elegant technological look, and they also give painters a greater variety of textures to work with on each model, making them a joy to paint.
Steve: Creating the Slann Starmaster was interesting because these creatures have come directly from World-that-Was, floating through space in their giant temple-ships. We wanted them to have as large a presence on the table as they do in the lore, and the increased size of the palanquin also let us bring more of the advanced Old Ones’ technology to the fore and add in extra details.
The Slann spend so much of their time on this floating throne that we wanted to ensure it cocooned them and had room for all of the trinkets, attendants, and insectile snacks they would need to function while on the battlefield – it’s almost an extension of their character.
WarCom: Tell us about some of the unique elements on the new miniatures?
Joe: One thing that’s cool about the new miniatures is that most of them are linked to specific Old Ones, which you may have noticed if you’ve got a keen eye. The Aggradon Lancers have motifs representing Itzl the Tamer appearing on their accessories, while the Spawn of Chotec feature references to the Lord of the Sun, right down to the transverse head crest their blessed spawnings are born with. The shields often have different motifs representing the role of the wielder – the reptilian face design on the Aggradon Lancer shields, for example, reinforces their ferocious appearance.
Steve: Just as the sigils and glyphs of Sotek and Itzl appear on the more warlike Seraphon, the influence of Tepok the Seer appears on the Raptadon Chargers, as well as the Slann Starmaster and those closely related to them. Not only are there lots of intricate Tepok-related carvings on the floating palanquin, but there’s also an option to add a little winged snake known as a Coatl, which is the form that Tepok is said to take.
WarCom: Are there any build options you’d like to talk about?
Steve: Unlike the Seraphon, who are born from spawning pools, the slann are escapees from the End Times. They’re all very individual creatures, and so we wanted people to be able to inject unique personalities into their Slann Starmasters. There are two face options, and one of those faces has a further choice of a crown or an unadorned head. There are also two left arms and three right arms, each with different artefacts and gestures. The palanquin itself has a range of options, too, from the skink attendants to the small creatures that have made the throne their home. With all of these parts, you can create multiple slann who feel like individuals with their own characters.
Joe: You get a lot of options to choose from when building the Aggradon Lancers. A lot of work went into making sure all three body and leg assemblies could work with any of the three different heads and tails, which results in a wide range of really dynamic poses. The three different chest armour plates and the feathers on their tails are also interchangeable. The saurus riders also have a choice of celestite clubs and spears, plus command options like the Saurus Alpha, standard bearer, and war-drummer. On top of that, there are six heads interchangeable across the riders, so you can have each rider and mount focus on the same target or split their attention.
WarCom: These miniatures are absolutely covered in incredible details – are there any that you enjoyed working on or want to call out?
Steve: In their long lives, the Slann have collected all sorts of trinkets, and some of these are littered around their palanquins. My favourite detail is the skink attendant presenting one of two trinkets on a tray. If you flip one of them over, you can see it is actually one of the very oldest shields used by the Saurus Warriors in years past!
Joe: There are lots of details, and it’s hard to pick just one, but I really like the little pouches carried by the cohort of skinks in the Spawn of Chotec kit. These are full of aqthracite stones – the idea is that they feed these to their salamander charges to increase the force of their corrosive bile. It’s a small detail that I think works really well, and along with the celestite goad, helps to emphasise their purpose and set them apart from other skinks.
All of the miniatures mentioned above are available for pre-order tomorrow. You can help the Seraphon undertake their Great Plan by pre-ordering them and Battletome: Seraphon. The forces of Chaos won’t know what’s hit them.