Workshop Wednesday — ‘Warhammer: The Horus Heresy,’ ‘Age Of Darkness: Saturnine,’ And Malcador The Sigillite

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I have watched this particular video at least 100 times over the last month. When I find myself troubled by world events, I tend to lose myself in lore. One of my favorite flavors of lore comes in the form of the The Horus Heresy from Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40k.

This particular video heralds the new edition of Warhammer: The Horus Heresy. It oozes so much style and grim dark delightfulness, old Grandfather Nurgel would be beside himself with envy. First and foremost, I need to talk about possibly my favorite character in all of Warhammer, Malcador the Sigillite.

Now what is really funny is I am giving our editors, including our Editor in Chief, the ability to scrap this whole segment if I am lying. The reason I am doing this is so you know how absolutely delirious I was with excitement when this video dropped.

I launched a stream of babbling factoids and theory crafting in the editors’ chat of our communication platform about how much I loved Malcador the Sigillite. Three grown men with their own lives and personal trials and tribulations were subjected to me gleefully regaling them with information about this extremely powerful psyker, a psyker who is perhaps only second in power to the God Emperor of Mankind himself.

These perfectly wonderful humans were ambushed by a torrent of unbridled joy as I explained that in a world of heavy armor-wearing super space soldiers and warp magic chucking demons my man, Malcador the Sigillite, because you say his whole name, yes, every time, wanders around in a robe with a stick that is on fire.

Editor’s Note: Can confirm. -Brendan

I can’t tell you how badly I want a miniature of Malcador the Sigillite. I want to paint him and carry him around with me like some sort of totem against the oppressive nonsense the world throws at me. You can tell by the tone shift of this article that I have gone from kind of excited to totally unhinged, because I’m now talking about Malcador the Sigillite.

Why is he great, you may ask?

There are a ton of reasons. The most important is that, during the last major fight of the Horus Heresy, when the forces of the traitor legions lead by the Archtraitor Horus were laying siege to Terra, Malcador the Sigillite sat upon the Golden Throne. From there, he used his psychic abilities to hold back the tide of chaotic Warp-spawn who were trying to invade Terra through the Webway.

Malcador allowed the Emperor to rise up and fight Horus. He was able to defeat the traitor and bring the bloody war known as the Horus Heresy to an end.

Wounded, the Emperor of mankind returned to the Imperial Palace. It was Malcador the Sigillite who used the last of his very essence to keep the Emperor alive long enough for him to give orders to the Primarch Rogal Dorn, before the Emperor took his seat on the Golden Throne. Then Malcador the Sigillite, the hero of all humanity, crumbled to ash from the weight of the energies and wild magics that had ravaged his body as he alone held the line between realities and saved the homeworld and in truth the entire empire of man.

So when the above video dropped during Games Workshops Dropsite Preview, I was locked in and ready. Boy, did they deliver!

Today we are talking about the new boxed set Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – Age of Darkness: Saturnine. Lets get into it!

For a bit of a baseline, Saturnine technology is a bit of a mystery in the Warhammer Age Of Darkness lore. Unlike the majority of the Imperium’s armor that is forged on Mars by the Mechanicum, a secret society of tech-enclaves on Saturn are responsible for the uniquely visually striking armor.

I am so excited about this boxset. It contains a delightfully devastating number of minis ready to be built, painted, and unleashed at the gaming table.

In this set you get 50 plastic Citadel miniatures, a 352-page Age of Darkness hardback rulebook (that I can’t wait to read), a detailed construction guide that also serves as a first game guide, four reference sheets, three weapon templates including a large blast, a small blast and the flamer template, 21 dice, a range ruler, 40 tactical status and objective tokens, and a transfer sheet with a mind boggling 1,172 decals on it.

This set is going to be perfect for seasoned players and newcomers to the game, making it my most anticipated Games Workshop release to date. I’m serious. They would have to email me and tell me that there is a Malcador the Sigillite mini coming to market for me to be more excited than I am right now about this upcoming release.

The above miniatures are the Space Marine legionaries in MkII Crusade armour. There are going to be 40 of these in the Saturnine box and this is the first time we are getting to see this armour pattern in plastic. During the early years of the Great Crusade the MKII Crusade armour was famous for its durability on the field of battle and the single lens vision-slit remains one of the most icon helmet looks in all of Warhammer.

Watching that epic video above a few times, you will certainly see the miniature pictured above in all its rendered glory. This is the Centurion in MkII Power armour and this sculpt is absolutely breathtaking. The Centurion armor is a mark of rank and this mini wears it well and also comes with a devastating power maul, a combi-melta, and a cyber-familiar who obediently floats alongside him. The head options on this mini are making me really happy.

The above Araknae Quad Accelerator Platform is not as flashy as the armor minis, but they are a heck of a power play at the gaming table providing autocannon defense for your troops.

The above Saturnine Terminators are going to devour hours of my life as I painstakingly paint them. I’m so excited about these minis that I have told my wife numerous times they are going to be my new obsession when I am finally able to get my hands on them. This iconic design is being brought to plastic for the first time and it looks absolutely stunning.

The Saturnine box will have six of these Terminators included with a ton of head and weapon options. The disruption fists are going to be my first build, hands down… no pun intended.

The Praetor in Saturnine Terminator armour above is the stuff of legend. This high-ranking officer is encased in experimental Saturnine Terminator armour making him one of the most devastating and battle-ready units in the Space Marine’s ranks.  The mini has four head options, two belt options, two different hammer heads, chest details and pauldrons, along with the ability to be built with a concussion hammer or a Saturnine war axe. I’m almost certain I am going to build mine with a war axe because that idea brings me a joy reserved for holiday dinners and surprise pizza.

Last, but for sure not least, towering above the other miniatures in this set, is the Saturnine Dreadnought. The Saturnine Dreadnought is taller and more powerful than even a Leviathan Siege Dreadnought. It can be equipped with a disintegrator cannon, heavy plasma bombard, or photonic incinerators. This thing is a weapon of pure destruction and is going to turn the tides of battle when it enters the fray.

Everything in the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – Age of Darkness: Saturnine box set, even the Araknae Quad Accelerator Platforms, are things I want to build and put paint on. There are always a few minis, sometimes just one, sometimes quite a few, miniatures in a box set that I am excited to own and have and eventually paint but I don’t end up making a priority. I can tell you with certainty that this box set, once it becomes mine, will become a focus of my attention and more than likely consume me for some time as I build and paint it all. I am so delighted by the whole thing that I can’t wait to tell you more about it when I know more.

For now, enjoy the video above, enjoy the rad pictures from the Dropsite Preview, and never forget Malcador the Sigillite is the reason that humanity still has a place in the grim dark future.

Until next time, Malcador the Sigillite is also just a ton of fun to say!