Maxime Corbeil is one of the miniature designers at the Warhammer design studio. It won’t surprise you to hear that he’s also an incredible hobbyist in his own right – who was awarded silver in 2019’s Golden Demon Open Competition for his Elucidian Starstriders.* His Black Templars are featured in Codex Supplement: Black Templars as the showcase Crusade army, and we love them so much, we persuaded him to tell us more about them.
Maxime: Back in 2017 I was invited to take part in White Dwarf’s ‘Tale of Four Warlords’ article series. I started playing Warhammer 40,000 back when the core box had Black Templars on the cover,** and I’ve had a soft spot for them ever since. No wonder I decided to jump headfirst into a new Black Templars army for the series...
The Black Templars have some of my favourite units and plenty of extraordinary artwork and background to draw inspiration from. I love the single-minded, hateful nature of the Chapter, the arrogance that comes with it, and their brutality. They're definitely not your average knights in shining armour – quite the opposite, in fact.
Since my armies usually spend more time in cabinets than on tabletops, the rule of cool always prevails, and I select units depending on what I feel like painting.
The classic, magnificent rulebook cover by John Blanche*** – which to this day is still a quintessential depiction of the Warhammer 40,000 universe – is my biggest influence for colour and style.
Rather than simply reproduce it, I tried to emulate it, with a strong colour scheme contrasting between smooth cold blacks, warm whites, and textured orange bases. I wanted to echo the style of armies from that era and apply it to the aesthetic of current models.
Because I love all Space Marines, and choosing is hard, I developed the background of my army in a way that allowed me to do it all! The Caedomian Crusade is focused on three parts. First are the grumpy veterans of the Chapter. Next up are a few Greyshields**** who are not yet fully inducted into the Chapter’s traditions – and therefore are not allowed to wear tabards, chains of devotion, or to train Neophytes.
The upcoming Black Templars range allows me to add a new element to the army, representing older Templars who’ve crossed the Rubicon Primaris and train new recruits in the traditional way in Primaris Crusader squads.
This allowed me to paint the upcoming Black Templars models, along with any existing Primaris kits, which I’ll quite possibly kitbash with leftover bits from the Crusader squad (there are enough to add wrist-chains to an Intercessor Squad, for example) and the upgrade frame.
My favourite model in the army is the heavily converted Ancient, Per Dammartin.
He’s based on the classic ‘Last Stand’ by Kev Walker – another favourite piece of Black Templars art. I mostly used Intercessor parts for the conversion, along with scratch-built banner, Mk VII helmet, and an old boltgun from the 90s.
I am constantly – albeit slowly – working on the army. The next step in my neverending painting challenge will be the stunning new models of Helbrecht and Grimaldus, but I also plan to convert some human-sized allies in the form of an Inquisitor and some acolytes, inspired by the figures present on that classic cover.
Thanks for sharing these, Maxime. You can get started on an eternal crusade of your own from tomorrow, when the new Black Templars Army Set becomes available for pre-order. It contains 12 new models, including a Marshal, an Emperor’s Champion, and a Crusade Squad. You’ll also find a Redemptor Dreadnought, as well as the new codex supplement with special cover art, and Black Templars Datacards. Better yet – more units will follow lin just a few weeks’ time, including High Marshal Helbrecht and Chaplain Grimaldus.
* A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Maxime won the Golden Demon, when he was, in fact, awarded silver in 2019 and has picked up a handful of Staff category nods too – a pretty impressive track record, if you ask us.
** That was the third edition, released in 1998.
*** This is the art that adorns the cover of the special edition codex supplement in the Black Templars Army Set, which you can pre-order tomorrow!
**** Greyshields, a.k.a. Unnumbered Sons, were the first Primaris Space Marines who joined the Indomitus Crusade – so-named because they wore pauldrons marked with grey chevrons. As the crusade progressed, they were assigned to Chapters of their bloodline – those assigned to the Black Templars would be Imperial Fists Greyshields.