The latest Warhammer 40,000 faction is available for pre-order on Saturday. Consulting the thrice-blinded augur, we made the appropriate sacrifices, swore the customary oaths and stepped through a hazily flickering portal into the Warhammer Design Studio, in order to peel back the skin on this depraved legion of sensation-chasing maniacs. We also talked about designing the new Emperor’s Children miniatures in the first installment of three interviews.
Warhammer Community: The Emperor’s Children are the last of the ‘big four’ Chaos Space Marine Legions to receive a range. How did you approach this piece of the grand tapestry of Chaos?
Maxime: We knew from the outset that we wanted to focus on the Emperor’s Children specifically, rather than Slaanesh as a whole – they’re connected, but there are differences. This means the range is almost starting from scratch: we had the original Noise Marines, who lived on as a conversion kit for unaligned Chaos Space Marines, and we had Lucius the Eternal, but there were few other miniatures to reference.
We narrowed the focus early on in the process, looking at the core concepts and themes: excess and martial prowess, and character traits such as pride and arrogance – things that are specific and that make them different from other Heretic Astartes.
Filip: It was about going back to those original roots, finding an identity for the Emperor’s Children on the constant hunt for more excess – and going beyond simple physical sensations. While we didn’t have many miniatures to work from, there have been a lot of ideas solidified in artwork, and in the way painters have tackled them over the years.
Getting the basic elements of the armour was really important. It needed to be elegant and detailed, but not cluttered. We focused on open, smooth areas with fewer panel lines than usual for power armour.
Maxime: There is a challenge inherent in an aesthetic as unique as Slaanesh – there is a danger of losing what makes them Chaos Space Marines.
Flilip: Every step of the way we were reminding ourselves that we needed to keep that in focus – if you lose that, they’re not the Emperor’s Children.
Maxime: We wanted to ensure they are approachable to both people who enjoy freehand and to those who want a simpler painting experience. I think the Chaos Space Marine hallmarks alongside the streamlined designs keep them approachable.
WarCom: The Emperor’s Children are a coterie of arrogant egotists – how did you design their leaders while staying true to their ideals?
Lucius the Eternal now (left) and before
Maxime: I was a little apprehensive when approaching Lucius because I loved the previous miniature. It had some elements I wanted to retain, such as his extreme height. He’s supposed to be the best swordsman in the galaxy, so I swapped the pose, making the sword the main event. This sword is the Blade of Laer, which gave us an opportunity to come up with a unique design – something that looks uniquely alien, deadly and exuberant with an ornate guard and oversized basket.
I worked the whip into the composition. I didn’t want it to look like a tentacle so I referenced torn ligaments to create something that conveyed the tensile, elastic strength that you’d expect from a whip.
He also has a little sash to wipe the blood off his blade. It’s a little narrative element – although he’s thoroughly depraved, he still takes pride in how he treats his weapon.
The trapped souls look like they are pushing through the armour itself, and I had a lot of fun sculpting the face, making him look incredibly incredibly vicious and really enjoying what he’s doing. The Iron Hands Space Marine was added to the base as a reference to the ongoing animosity between the legions.
Lord Exultant
Filip: The pose, silhouette and cape combine into a commanding presence. The real challenge was getting in all the weapons – power fist, power sword, plasma pistol, screamer pistol, and Phoenix power spear – without compromise. He’s slightly more ornate than the rest of the range, to keep things cohesive while conveying his higher rank. He is the only miniature with a power spear, another nod to the history of the Horus Heresy.
Maxime: He’s not just a preeminent combatant, he’s also a strategist and a commander, which sets him apart from the other characters, who specialise in something. This is reflected through wargear, posing, and armour – unlike his allies he’s relatively covered up. He’s beautiful but sinister, something that’s completely unique for a Chaos Lord. The backpack icon completes the look, and has the same fitting as that of the leader of the Infractor and Tormentors.
Lord Kakophonist
Maxime: The root of the design was the Doom Siren from the previous Noise Marine Champion. We all wanted to push it to the next level and make a character out of it. The original Doom Siren looked like daemon engine exhausts, but now it has its own identity. It has direction to it, curving up with gargoyles on the side that feel like bass speakers or sub-woofers. It makes it feel like it’s a weapon with a specific purpose in mind – and on top of that it feels like an organ’s pipes, which keeps the sonic motif.
Filip: The essence of the miniature is really conveyed in the pose too, He’s hunkered down and heavily armoured which adds some variety to your characters, and matches the Noise Marines.
Maxime: He exemplifies the oddity of sonic weapons. He and his allies move rather slowly, contrary to the rest of the Emperor’s Children, projecting an inexorable and inescapable wall of sound across the battlefield.
You’ll be able to read the second part of our interview later in the week, when we’ll be tackling the troops. Everything mentioned in this article is available to pre-order this weekend.
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