Interrupting the regular pace of things to just take a moment to gush about the new Warhammer 40,000 model for Lion El'Johnson.
Of course, the rumours about his release have been swirling around for a very long time now. I am highly impressed there haven't been leaks in the same way that Angron was leaked out.
What I really like about this model is that the Lion is not "over the top" compared to (say) the Heresy era interpretation, arguably as Roboute has shifted in a quite extreme manner. The Lion is both resplendent, dynamic, and retains the grim dark tone without appearing cartoon like. I think part of this impression is the visible aging that has been done to his face. Naturally, being asleep for millennia or ten is bound to do that to a man. Many have already made note of the looks being similar to a certain Lannister of Game of Thrones fame. I get that completely. Yet, he is also demonstrably still the Lion. He has aged gracefully and lacks nothing of his more youthful determination, aggression, and finesse. The watchers in the dark are similarly interesting on his base and I'm looking forward to seeing how his friendly chat with Cypher turns out (please do this Black Library, okay? We really want it!).
Even I am slightly tempted to buy this model to be completely honest, and its been a long time since I built a Dark Angels force! Congrats GW on such a fantastic sculpt.
Completely agree with your assessment. Would love to see the Fallen in some way re-integrated. Make the Lion and the Dark Angels almost a third force - working to protect and rebuild the Empire but in their own way
ReplyDeleteI love the model but as with Girlyman I'm more than cynical about the primarchs coming back. The Age of Crusade as an age of Heroes, whilst the Heresy was a tragedy. I can't remember for the life of me which BL book it was but there was a book where a character with knowledge of the Heresy thought it was a good thing that the age of Primarchs had passed, and they could be safely venerated at a distance.
ReplyDeleteAlso if you're going to wake the Kings beneath the Mountain after so long you not only have to do them justice once, but again and again. Dan Abnett is capable of that, not every BL author is, also they're going to cast Dante, Grimnar, Calgar and Azrael into shadow, those who's names a are byword for Loyalty, Duty and Honour.