Warped Marginalia April to June 2025; Newsletter Feedback, Addendum & Housekeeping
Here's some follow-ups and more from my recent posts and comments from you, dear readers, on those posts.
Once more a big thank you to all those who’ve read, commented or liked the posts. Not only is it helpful for my work, but great to see all the love for Warhammer old and new!
My Warped Marginalia posts (name is a riff of the White Dwarf coloumn, ‘Marginalia’ which was title of a regular column in White Dwarf during the Rogue Trader era.) are my project and nerwsletter ‘housekeeping’ posts.
So what are my current top three posts?
So no real big surprise that right at the top is the post, done in combination with Original Oldhammer Artwork and with thanks to Alex Read, about the original sketches for the cover of 40K Rogue Trader plus the alternative cover that was designed. As a fan, it is always fun to get to look into the workings of how the sausage is made, so the phrase goes. The images, which are amazing, combined with commentary (by me, ovs) on how it came to be has proven to be very popular with fellow fans. (When I got the images emailed to me originally by Andy of Original Oldhammer Artwork, I was like a kid in a toy shop, so excited to see them and share them with you all. It was such an exciting moment)
Now let us reflect on some feedback! (Note I copy/snip text posts, as written)
Starting with feedback that is actually earlier posts, but from friend-of-the-newsletter, Lewis Davis of Oldhammer Fiction Podcast fame, who is always an insightful and interesting voice on Warhammer. I didn't spot these till more recently, hence they are in this post and not the previous one.
Regarding the post on Golden Demon and painting skills, Lewis wrote:
Interesting as always- but I offer a counterpoint. The early Golden Demons saw people operating in a world where very little of the creative act of settting creation had been done, relative to today. One of the things a modern GD winner will do is chime in with what has already been established as the aesthetic of warhammer. They might play within those boundaries, like the boar rider from the 2025 lot that had a very natural colour palette, but they have to fit. In the 1980s the aesthetic rules aren't established, so you get more creativity about what your entry to be (admittedly this then creates its own genres - unexpected thing sat on unexpected thing being very popular) . With this in mind, the 80s guys were the artists and the 2020s guy are craftspeople working to the precepts of someone else.
Regarding the post ‘humans and Eldar being bros’
Lewis drew my attention to another classic image here:
(Image - Mercenary force by Andy Craig, from the pages of White Dwarf 115, showing a Space Marine, an Eldar and an Ork all warning the same unit colour of armour. There is an interview with Andy here.)
On this same article, another FB comment on Eldar being bros wrote:
I do remember reading a battle report in WD way back in the day where Eldar and Imperial Guard were allied against Chaos, and in one of the little bits of sidebar fluff there was a guardsman bristling and growling at having to stand alongside xenos, and this Dire Avenger or Guardian gently stood him down, saying "Peace son of Terra. Today there are enemies enough for both our kin." Always loved that.
I’d love to know what issue this was in? Do let me know if you know!?
Regarding the post ‘A key document in the history of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader - White Dwarf Issue 92’
Here on the project site, Tomas commented, “I really need to get my copy of Rogue Trader on the table.” In re-reading the book for this research, while game design has developed a long way in the last few decades (plenty of which is down to GW’s continued releases!) there is still so much to like about the rules for Rogue Trader, so I agree!
In Regard the post, Another key document in the history of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader - White Dwarf Issue 98
Tomas again wrote; “I really thought that Space Wolf was going to be an Orc Marine.” Which sounds intriguing and I refer you, dear reader, to the composition of the image ‘Mercenary Force, above image.
Regarding the article, Is that dude wearing a Batman T-Shirt in the 41st Millennium? Plus a note on some of the great research into Warhammer that is out there!
So this, my third most popular post, was a great comment: “That is a great find. I'm going to have to look at my Rogue Trader copy deeper.” Always worth a flick back though the history of the setting. Also this from Reddit was fun; “Forget Batman, is that hover-bus heading to Coober Pedy?!” Which was a great spot and Coober Pedy is an actual town in Australia and is the setting for a bunch of films including the 3rd Mad max film.
Which another commenter, this time on BlueSky noted:
kinda implies a very 'mad max' style environment though, doesn't it? where passenger bus War-Rigs fight off marauding slaver gangs. which probably was an influence, given that in one of the pics has 'coober pedy' as the destination, which is where Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome was filmed IRL.
Which could be the link, or it could be because its a remote location that has a source of wealth? Interesting, though. Thanks for sharing!
Miles made an interesting point, which I’ll quote some of;
So, this is a part of GW history where you can clearly see things changing. The fictional worlds were originally intended to be connected: Warp travels, Old Slann, Chaos, the various gods... RT isn't much clear about that, as it focused less on Chaos, but the two Realm of Chaos volumes amplified the notion by a large margin. It was all quite clear: the Warhammer World was connected/part of the Warhammer 40K universe, with the collapsed Warp gates at the poles keeping it de facto insulated, only occasionally reached through a breach in the storms (in the same way the Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom work).
That is one of the interesting things about the research - seeing a company and IP in transition. Personally I feel that you do need to change IPs over time, not for the sake of it, but because, the audiences, the competition, the technology of your business environment and the expectations of fans (like me!) also shifts. It is a hard thing to get right, so seeing it in action is fascinating!
Tomas noted; “In the 2nd Citadel Compendium, there is a scenario written by Richard Halliwell where you invade an Amazon temple and they are all armed with High Age Weapons (aka las pistols).” This is a great note, and yes I plan to cover this article (called ‘Rigg’s Shrine’) as it's an amazing bit of Warhammer history and notable as around that time there was quite a lot of ‘science-fantasy’ going on. Also of note is this article on who that ‘Rigg’ of the title might be inspired by.
(Image, the shrine of ‘Rigg’s Shrine’, an Aztec-inspired looking temple drawn by John Blanche and from the Second Citadel Compendium, Which if sounds cool, do check out the Age of Sigmar Seraphon, which are great, I picked up the book on them recently!)
Nergling noted;
I really like the incestuous relationship between the fantasy and science fiction elements of Warhammer. Not only because of the bleed over from the miniatures that were being produced at the time, but also specifically the Siege supplement that noted there were feral and medieval worlds that still existed during the 41st millennium.
To which my reply was; Yeah I loved that too. The rules for Fantasy Battle allowed for flintlock weapons as Empire troops and Dwarven units used gunpower. They could also appear in 40K as on pg. 73 of 1st edition 40K the stats block for Muskets existed (as noted they were used on the planet of ‘Birmingham’ in the 41st millennium) because over the range of planets in the vast setting there would be ones where the tech level had devolved to gunpower or before. Again, it made sense to me then as a player with some Fantasy Roleplay models that I could re-use them in 40K.
In regard the article, One of the enduring superpowers of 40K is the deep lore that started with Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Rogue Trader
I’m really enjoying seeing how the current game creators draw back on the legacy of the game. In the post on BlueSky on that, I was trying to find the earliest appearance of Saturnine terminators. So I was glad (and honoured) that Wib of the YouTube duo, Snipe & Wib, popped up to help!, “but this is apparently in WD108 from December of 1988 (which would line up timeline-wise). So I guess you'd just need to find someone who actually has that issue to check!” Which I did, and the picture of my copy of WD 108 is in the article!
(Image - by author, a page from WD 108 showing terminator armour, what is now called Saturnine terminator armour.)
A couple of people mentioned the famous Deodorant Tank created by Rick Priestley and featured in White Dwarf 95, November 1987. (See here and here). I've got an actual photo somewhere of this very tank, as it was on the shelf when I interviewed Rick for the book. I plan to write more about this artifact of history!
On the image of the 40K Rogue Trader marines using a jump pack and the new Horus Heresy ones, a Facebook user posted a picture of his models, “All my Space Marines are in MK8 Errant Armour, all my Terminators (60+) wear "OMEGA" Pattern Tactical Dreadnought Armour and all my Jump Packs (30+) are using these Jump Packs.” They are amazing.
(Image - A squad of MK8 Errant Armour Space Marines with jump-packs. Image from Facebook. If you fancy some jump-pack Marines of your own, try these!)
Regarding the exclusive article, Here are the original draft sketches and an alternative cover design for the iconic cover of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, featuring the last stand of Crimson Fist Space Marines vs Orks
Writing this I note my titles for posts are getting longer! There’s a lot I want to convey in them! Anyhow, a few choice responses. On Reddit one user wrote, “... that's like finding davincis "man" drawing. No but seriously bro you have an actual imperial relic there!” I agree, as Warhammer is an IP with a serious cultural impact and legacy, the documents that helped to shape it are valuable historical artefacts for those who study culture.
Another, also on Reddit, wrote;
At this point, the owner of this piece should be looking at museum-level preservation. Warhammer is decades-old IP worth many billions of pounds and it continues to grow. These drawings don’t equal the value of something like McQuarrie’s Star Wars concept art or HR Geiger’s stuff that eventually became Alien, but someday, they might.
Again, I agree this is something of real value and I’m glad people are collecting this stuff rather than it being lost to time. So much stuff gets lost because at the time, people either didn’t see the value or thought it ubiquitous, e.g. the lost Shakespeare plays.
On BlueSky one user, Beau, noted that he’d never actually painted a Crimson Fist Space Marine, the chapter of Marines depicted on that classic cover; “I’ve just realised that despite having loved that cover for decades, I’ve never painted a single Crimson Fist. Might need to order up a box of beakies.” Nor have I! I’ve got some old RTB01 Marines and also some of the new gorgeous Horus Heresy marines. So that goes onto my hobby to-do list! (Which I plan to document here,)
Finally for this post, on the topic of Know your Tarantula!
Back to a shorter title! One user on Reddit noted that there was also a Space Crusade boardgame version of this support weapon. Thanks for that!
(Image - An Imperial Fists Tarantula is ready to support the assault on the Dreadnought Factory, image from Board Game Geek)
Note! There is more about this project 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.
Also note & note! The very top image is from a medieval document where the scribe added fighting snails, for reasons.
The Imperial Guard being annoyed about having to work with Eldar is in WD 189 - they were fighting Tyranids not Chaos though. The article is called 'The Great Devourer', fought by Andy Chambers, Ian pickstock and Adrian Wood, and *spoilers* the IG and Eldar don't do very well...