Another key document in the history of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader - White Dwarf Issue 98

Again looking at some of the key documents of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader. In this issue I am looking at White Dwarf Issue 98 from 1988 that helped to develop the lore of the Space Marines!

This is part of a mini-series on key documents in the history of 40K Rogue Trader.

This is also a follow-on from the last ‘key document’ post here. In this issue I’m looking at White Dwarf issue 98 from February 1988. Here’s a short video showing that issue:

Here’s the cover from White Dwarf 98 which has a very iconic image titled ‘And they shall know no fear’ by artist Dave Andrews. For me it really captures some of the core aspects of the 40K setting - a violent breaching action, Space Marines in the midst of combat, the lethality of that combat itself. Oh and Space Marines too. Here’s that cover from my copy:

(Image - The cover of White Dwarf 98 showing Ultra Marines in combat by Dave Andrews. Photo by author.)

Within its page, this Chapter Approved article is why is was so key in the setting:

(Image - An image from page 12 of White Dwarf 98 that expands on the lore of Space Marines)

This was not the first Chapter Approved, that has started in December 1987 with White Dwarf 96, but the content was key to establishing the lore of the Adeptus Astartes aka the Space Marines. What this article did is explain the origins of the Space Marines. Now some of this was laid out in Rogue Trader where they refer to the process of the creation of a Space Marine, but that was only a couple of short paragraphs. In WD 98 Rick Priestly, the author of both, was really able to get into the meat of how they are made. We get a bunch more lore on their initial creation, the gene-seed, the zygotes (new cool organs), the progenoid glands (for making new Marines) and a description of the 19 implants needed to create a Space Marine.

What is also really interesting is the note that;

As well as mutant implants, many chapters have lost one or more types of gene-seed due to accident, genetic failure, or some other cause. Very few chapters therefore possess all nineteen implants." (WD 98, pg.13)

Which gives the player the ability to, as part of creating their own chapter of marines, to vary what they have and how they are mutated to make their own unique force of marines. (This was a core idea, setting up a basic framework and then giving the player the space to explore and create from there - still is!) It is these differences in organs, implants, mutations that then underscores the differences between the Chapters.

(Image - the Space Wolves get an extra implant - of teeth! From page 13 of WD 98)

GW has continued to explore the lore of the iconic Adeptus Astartes,for example this amazing video, ‘The Armouring of a Space Marine’ released in 2022 - around 34 years after this article!

Thanks for reading!

Note! There is more about this project here. The direct chat for this project is here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.