When did we get sneak peaks at Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader elements from back in the 80s?

As part of my research I am looking to track down a few ‘firsts’ - the first mentions of the name, the first miniatures, the first art and so on

The behemoth that is Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader did not arrive until the autumn of 1987 (it was released at Games Day that year and previewed in a couple of issues of White Dwarf before then). However there were miniatures released before it was available and sneak peaks of art and more many, many months before it was released.

For the book I’m developing a timeline of events as I’ve been finding that in order to understand it, having that drum-beat of events, releases and more helps to place the game in its proper context.

So here I’m sharing my work-in-progress of some of the ‘40K firsts’ and I’d love to get any feedback where I’m wrong/missing info? Drop a comment or ping me on BlueSky. Thanks!

Let’s get into it!

Probably the first public mention of the term 'Rogue Trader' as a game, would have been in mid-1983 when First Citadel Compendium published in October that year. In this issue is an advert for an upcoming game titled ‘Rogue Trader’ being written by Rick Priestley (the designer of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader) accompanied by the tagline, "Coming Soon... Science Fiction Role Play System". (Back then, in the afterglow of the success of D&D, terming a game a ‘Role Play’ system was pretty common for many titles that today we’d consider more a wargame or such.) Note - while the game Rick was noted as developing, was called Rogue Trader, other than a science-fantasy setting it did not bear much resemblance to the later Warhammer 40,000.

(Image - Detail from page 32 of the First Citadel Compendium from 1983)

The first notable 40K Rogue Trader miniatures would come in the forms of LE1 Space Ork and LE2 Imperial Space Marine. Both of these were released in 1985. There’s a reference to LE2 in the September 1985 Flyer. (I’ve not been able to find a reference to LE1’s release date as yet? The WH40K Lexicanum has LE1 as being released in 1985. Also, confusingly there is another miniature titled 'LE1' but this one is fantasy not SF, LE1 Motley Maniac the Death Jester)

(Image - LE2, sculpted by Bob Naismith, this instance is from Snipe and Wib’s YouTube channel. I’m a patreon of their work and recommend it if you’re into Old Hammer!)

Here’s what the LE2 sculptor Bob Naismith commented on LE2;

...Again I was the person who was like wanting to do sci-fi wanting to do it and so I remember going to speak to Rick about you know he explained that what they needed was this figure which was like the the basic soldier the grunt who was going to be the core of the army um and and for me to just go off and and go on with it really um so that that's what I did and I remember making yet alongside making lots of other things And I did enjoy it Um and then I remember Brian or Allan coming up and saying 'Good job Well done You know we think you've nailed it there'. I said 'Oh that's fine.' And then I just carried on making something else. Space Marine Maker | Bob Naismith in Conversation with Jordan Sorcery.

I’m documenting this event and the creation of 40K Rogue Trader with a bit more granularity in the book as I’ve been lucky enough to interview a number of key people. Plus, one of the key reasons for doing this is to help those interested in how the game ‘bottled lightning’ went from a side project in a small regional gaming company to a global IP behemoth.

White Dwarf issue 84, from December 1986 would be the first time we got to see any certified Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader art as John Blanche would approvingly write about the featured art of Wil Rees, which he’d;

“In the new year there will be further opportunities to drool over the quality of Wil’s work when Rogue Trader is published - Wil’s Marine Captain is a wonderful example of gothic illustration.”

(Image - Some of the second ever column of ‘Illuminations’, this one in White Dwarf 84, December 1986, pg.20)

White Dwarf Issue 91 July 1987 would feature the (I think?) the first painted 40K Rogue Trader miniatures and the first plastic 40K Miniatures. The text that accompanied the pictures read:

“Fig 5 Army Officer, Made for the forthcoming Warhammer 40,000 range ... Fig 8 Special Special Special coming soon plastic Space Marines.” (John Blanche & Rick Priestley, writing in 'Eavy Metal, from White Dwarf issue 91, 1987 p.66)

(Image - The SF miniatures from that issue including some 2000AD Rogue Trooper, not Trader, ones too. The former would influence the title of the latter. 40K ones are Fig 5 & 8.)

Thanks for reading!

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.

PS. Rick has a new game out and John has a paint set out.

PPS. The iconic Space Marine has evolved and grown in stature. I love the older ones and also the new ones are also ‘chef’s kiss’.