Games Workshop 99120102065" Thousand Sons Magnus The Red, Black

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Magnus is definitely a character to take for specific purposes, not as an all-round buff for your army. Perhaps this represents the views of a luddite clinging to the past, refusing to allow the setting to evolve beyond the moment in which I discovered it, forcing it – with unintentional irony – to stagnate into a worship of its past self. From the Raptorae he claimed terrible destructive power, whilst his shifting form and bloated ego was undoubtedly a gift of the Pavoni. As mentioned above however he won’t be an easy one to convert so if you don’t want a Space Wolf in your collection you’d better find someone who does to flog him off to. Bigger and crazier models are on their way; more daemon Primarchs, perhaps even a few Loyalist Primarchs.

Here it is at last; the thing we’ve all be waiting for – a set of Space Marines who aren’t squatting! The plot of the novel covering these events does nothing to clarify things and instead adds in an unnecessary shape-shifting daemon which only serves to muddy the waters and poke holes in the plot (bad boy Dan Abnett – and you’re usually so good).We don’t profess to know the definitive truth behind Warhammer 40k’s Magnus the Red and his fall to Chaos – but we can give you all the information you need to make up your own mind. The last time a miniature for Azhek Ahriman was released – a mere month ago – I got hugely excited and bought one, plus a Gaunt Summoner and started kitbashing wildly in the hopes that soon Mazzakim would emerge from my thoughts into solid reality. For some time the Imperium had been split on the question of magic and whether or not it was a good idea. Likewise his sword – admittedly an iconic design – is a little too over-the-top, early 90’s for my taste. Who knows what elaborate schemes his masters plan to inflict upon the universe whilst he watches from behind that inscrutable bird mask?

Planning for the potential seize, or running into Coteaz, would be of utmost importance for this list.While I am doubtful I will end up running the model, I couldn’t deny the thrill of putting him together.

Note the similarity between the Aspiring Sorcerer and the 30k incarnation of Ahriman released last month, a nice bit of visual storytelling that helps to tie the chief librarian’s past and future incarnations together in spite of his own changed appearance. After all it’s a title so closely associated with such a famous character in the story of both 40k and the Heresy – a character who was even present for the battle featured – that reusing it was bound to cause confusion. Magnus, Angron, Curze, Lorgar, even Horus himself; all seem to have been the victims of a deliberate set-up.Alongside the space marines and terminators that GW packs into every boxset they release we have, for the first time ever, the Emperor’s loyal bodyguards – the Custodes – and the bane of witches everywhere, those psychic nulls the Sisters of Silence. The first rule that’ll see your opponent gnash their teeth is Gaze of Magnus, a colossal buff to Smite that doubles the damage it deals. Edit: And indeed Forge World have been fast off the mark – already revealing this Custodes transport. Magnus did nothing wrong” is the eternal refrain in such debates – always met with equal and opposite assertions that, actually, he did rather a lot wrong. Indeed, in my opinion he’s up there with Krom Dragongaze as among the very best of the recent Space Wolves models.

Thus, in the interests of full disclosure let me restate my position on Primarchs in 40k, as set out a month ago with the release of The Burning of Prospero (which for those less familiar with the setting could be considered a sister release to this one, covering as it does the events which led to Magnus getting so narked off with the Space Wolves in the first place). Ultimately much remains unknown about the Emperor and his motivations but what we do know is that he foresaw the Heresy, if not its full extent, and his actions did more to cause it than to prevent it.With his ornate power-armour, trophies and fetishes he’s a striking figure – enough to have any fan of the Rout excited. What’s more it’s literally packed with occult and metaphorical symbols and it’s clear that the designers had a great time creating a model with real meaning and depth.