Warhammer 40,000

Gaunt’s Ghosts fans, prepare for something exciting coming your way in December. A new edition of the classic background book The Sabbat Worlds Crusade will be released, and it’s bigger and better than ever. Also, if you’re in Canterbury, you can catch the Ghosts’ creator Dan Abnett in person next week. Read on to find out more.

The Sabbat Worlds Crusade was first released back in the mists of time (well, 2005). This was a comprehensive account of the first twenty years of that great war, written by Dan Abnett himself. The book followed the fortunes of Warmaster Slaydo as he assembled his armies, convinced the High Lords of Terra that the Sabbat Worlds needed retaken by the Imperium, and launched his assault. It detailed the earliest clashes as the Crusade advanced, and gave the fullest account yet of the Battle of Balhaut, where Slaydo fell and one Ibram Gaunt distinguished himself enough to be given command of a small regiment from the backwater world of Tanith…

It then told the tale of the crusade up to the events on Herodor, where Saint Sabbat herself returned to lead the Imperial forces in their reconquest of her stars. This was as far as the Gaunt’s Ghosts series had advanced at the time, but in the intervening years, no fewer than 8 more novels (and a pair of short story anthologies) have continued to tell the Tanith First’s part in the crusade. Now, for the first time, Dan Abnett has returned to tell the tale of the wider crusade across the 18 in-universe years from Sabbat Martyr to the events of Anarch.

This new edition of The Sabbat Worlds Crusade is an A4 hardback and clocks in at more than twice the length of the original. Dan Abnett has revised the existing text and written loads of new content, as well as providing detailed briefs for a plethora of new artwork.

In the book’s pages, you’ll find art covering the Imperial forces of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade and their enemies. Among them are portraits of many of the key characters in the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, such as the Tanith First chief medic Tolin Dorden and master sniper Hlaine “Mad” Larkin, both of which you can see for the first time in this article! Alongside them is a sinister officer of the Sons of Sek – and these are just a taste of the amazing artwork you’ll find in the book. There will also be new and revamped maps, including one showing the Sabbat Worlds in all their glory. The Sabbat Worlds Crusade will be an essential accompaniment to all fans of the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and it’s coming your way in December.

If you want to catch up on the Gaunt’s Ghosts novels in the intervening months, it’s easy to do so thanks to a series of omnibus editions of the novels. Pick up The Founding, The Saint, The Lost and The Victory: Part One alongside The Warmaster and Anarch and you’ll be up to date on the tales of Ibram Gaunt and his warriors, ready to dive into the wider story.

If you’d like to get some of your books signed by Dan, and you’re in the Canterbury area, you’re in luck! Next Wednesday, the 24th of April, Dan will be signing books and talking about his wide and varied career at Waterstones Canterbury. Don’t miss out on a chance to meet the Warmaster himself!

All the Chaos Gods draw their strength from the emotional animus of mortals, and Slaanesh is no exception. However, the Dark Prince is unique among his brethren in that he does not represent a specific, crystallised, concept like rage, ambition or despair, but instead draws strength from the intensity of any given emotion – any form of excess feeds Slaanesh.

This makes Slaanesh terrifyingly powerful, to the point where he is secretly feared by his brother gods. Each god risks being consumed by Slaanesh, as each is an embodiment of the all-consuming ideals, mindsets and obsessions that sustain the Dark Prince.

Last in the pantheon is Slaanesh, who knows well how to play on the obsessions of his rivals. Khorne's single-minded bloodlust, Nurgle's quest to infect every living thing, and Tzeentch's compulsion to dabble in the fates of mortals - all are obsessions which the Lord of Excess can turn to his will with a whispered promise.

Amongst Slaanesh’s Daemons, the undisputed martial champion is Shalaxi Helbane. Created to fight and defeat rival Greater Daemons – especially those of the Blood God – Shalaxi has bested some of the most formidable adversaries in the galaxy, including, if rumour is to be believed, Skarbrand.

Keepers of Secrets

The Greater Daemons of Slaanesh are tall, multi-limbed creatures of terrible power. Their size belies an unnatural swiftness that enables them to sweep their long claws through the ranks of their enemies or skewer a chosen foe with a pinpoint strike of their elegant blades in the blink of an eye. They lead the hedonistic hordes of Slaaneshi Daemons, changing their command according to their whimsical moods to match that exemplified by the Legion.

As the youngest of the Chaos Gods, awakened millennia ago by the Fall of the Aeldari, Slaanesh became a natural rival to eldest of the pantheon, Khorne. It was the arrogance of the young Dark Prince that the sanctioned scholars of the Ordo Malleus believe led to the creation of the Keepers of Secrets. Where Khorne’s Bloodthirsters exude raw physical strength and martial prowess, the Keepers of Secrets are lithe and impossibly swift – and no less deadly for it, always able to land the first and often fatal blow against their rivals. Each such victory won by a Keeper of Secrets over one of the Blood God’s Greater Daemons – or those of the other Dark Gods – brings indescribably cruel satisfaction to Slaanesh.

Cardinals of Sin

Zarakynel the Bringer of Torments: This towering and murderously powerful Greater Daemon is one of Slaanesh’s Exalted Keepers of Secrets. Zarakynel takes great delight in ravaging the Exodite worlds of the Aeldari, greedily devouring their soulstones to condemn the spirits of the dead to endless torment as the playthings of Slaanesh.

Shalaxi Helbane: Amongst Slaanesh’s Daemons, the undisputed martial champion is Shalaxi Helbane. Created to fight and defeat rival Greater Daemons – especially those of the Blood God – Shalaxi has bested some of the most formidable adversaries in the galaxy, including, if rumour is to be believed, Skarbrand.

Kyriss the Perverse: In a rare alliance between the forces of Khorne and Slaanesh, Kyriss the Perverse served as one of the two Daemon lords alongside Ka’bandha on Signus Prime, luring Sanguinius and his Blood Angels Legion into a cataclysmic campaign in a failed attempt to corrupt them.

Syll’Esske, the Vengeful Allegiance

The Daemon Herald Syll Lewdtongue was once shunned by those in the court of Slaanesh for growing too attached to those meant to be tempted into their own destruction. Syll’s unique affection for these charges would, however, eventually lead to glory.

When a mortal war-slave known as Esske, a fighter in one of the gladiatorial arenas of Slaanesh’s gardens, caught Syll’s eye, the herald decided to guide the mortal to ever greater heights of carnage. Esske’s newfound patronage allowed him to ascend all the way to the rank of Daemon Prince, only to be dismissed by Daemon courtiers as a former mortal.

Syll and Esske joined forces to take revenge on those that had shunned them, combining cunning, speed and brute strength in one deadly tag-team. Carving a bloody path of vengeance to the throne of Slaanesh itself, the two bound their fates forever in a dark pact. Now, they are a symbiotic entity known as Syll’Esske, fighting with deadly synchronicity. The alliance which had made them outsiders before, now paved the way for their mutual ascension.

Shalaxi Hellbane

The Keeper of Secrets known as Shalaxi Hellbane is a peerless hunter whose favoured prey is nothing less than the greatest champions of the other Dark Gods. Shalaxi is the embodiment of Slaanesh’s eternal, furious feud with the Blood God, Khorne, and was in many ways created to slay his Bloodthirsters with contemptuous ease. To Slaanesh, defeating a rival deity in their own obsession is to secure an unforgettable victory. Shalaxi has slain countless Greater Daemons, as well as dragons, warrior kings, tyrants and any other warlords who have grown powerful enough to spark the irritation of the Dark Prince.

Contorted Epitomes

Rivalry is common among the Daemons of Slaanesh, but those few that abide each other’s presence are often assigned as stewards of an ornate Mirror of Absorption. These semi-sentient relics are taken from the Palace of Slaanesh and used in battle to absorb the magical energies of the Dark Prince’s foes, before turning them back with terrifying effectiveness…

Ben: I started off by making a list of words for the Slaanesh models◊ that would go on to help the designers when they made them.

A lot of these key words and phrases are reflected in the poses of the Slaanesh models, with the daemonic servants of the Dark Prince carrying themselves very differently from other Daemons.

Ben: Rather than depicting them mid-battle, we wanted the servants of Slaanesh to look proud, enticing, and elegant. The new Masque, for instance, is dancing, which fits their background. We’ve got a dancer on our team, who was kind enough to give us some notes on posing them properly!

We wanted the physique of the models to look distinct, too. Esske◊ was based on Olympic swimmers, to make him look strong without being too barbarous. Likewise, with the Keeper of Secrets, we wanted to strike a balance between it looking lithe and graceful without being too ropey and skinny. It’s still a powerful Daemon, after all!

The grace of the new Slaanesh models may also bring to mind some of the other denizens of the 41st Millennium and Mortal Realms – this is quite deliberate!

Ben: You’ll notice a lot of the lines and arabesques^note interlocking lines of linear, interacting patterns! look very Aeldari or aelven. That’s deliberate! Slaanesh is connected very closely with these races in Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Age of Sigmar, and we wanted to reflect that in the models.

It’s not just the poses and shapes of the new Slaanesh models that make them stand out, but their splendor. Rather than being clad in armour, like the Daemons of Khorne and Nurgle, the servants of Slaanesh are much more finely dressed.

Ben: We wanted the models to have the feel of a festival. Some models – like the attendants of the Contorted Epitome◊ – are dressed like revellers at a party. Shalaxi Helbane’s headdress◊, meanwhile, makes them look like they’re at a carnival.

Ben: The important thing to remember about Daemons is that they don’t have “clothes” as a normal mortal does – anything they wear is as much a manifestation of the will of Slaanesh as they are. The line between where the Daemon ends and clothing begins is deliberately unclear. The stockings◊, for example, start as clothing, and end up as part of the Daemon itself. We wanted the clothing to give each model its own identity, distinguishing them from each other.

The splendour of the new models isn’t just reflected in their clothing, but their jewellery and accessories, which contain several references to the Dark Prince that the eagle-eyed may have already spotted.

Ben: We wanted to refer to the symbol of Slaanesh very subtly throughout the range of models. Very few of them have the full symbol on them, but you’ll see elements of it reflected on nearly every miniature◊.

The Battle Sister Bulletin returns, and this time we’re taking a look at some of the most glorious moments in the chronicles of the Adepta Sororitas, from their origins to some of their most famous battles.

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The Beheading of Goge Vandire

In early M36, the corrupt High Lord of the Administratum, Goge Vandire, manoeuvres himself to also become the head of the Ecclesiarchy. Thus begins his seven-decade-long reign of blood in which untold billions died. He is protected by a fiercely loyal, all-female bodyguard called the Daughters of the Emperor, led by Alicia Dominica. It is only when Alicia stands in front of the God-Emperor Himself that the scales fall from her eyes – she marches into Vandire’s chambers and decapitates him with a single swing of her power sword.

Alicia Dominica goes on to found the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas – the Sisters of Battle are born.

The Massacre at Sanctuary 101

The fortress-convent known as Sanctuary 101 is founded on the eastern fringe by Adepta Sororitas from the Order of our Martyred Lady. In 897.M41, every Battle Sister within the stronghold is slain in what is believed to be the first Imperial contact with the Necrons. Corrupted video logs are the only evidence of the identity of the attackers and subsequent investigations of Sanctuary 101 find no trace of the mysterious assailants.

The March of the Penitent

In 938.M41, the Waaagh! of Warboss Blackaxe drives the Battle Sisters from the Orders of the Valorous Heart and Ebon Chalice back to the walls of the Cathedral of Saint Dufaux. Only the sacrifice of hundreds of Sisters Repentia allows the beleaguered defenders enough time to open the mighty gates of the cathedral. With the gates open, two dozen Penitent Engines are able to take to the battlefield and reap a bloody vengeance in the name of the martyrs.

Slaying of the Tyrant

In 991.M41, at the start of the second Tyrannic War, Cannoness Praxedes leads a force of Adepta Sororitas to the cardinal world of Okassis to reinforce the Astra Militarum. When the Tyranids make planetfall, a combination of Retribution Squads and Exorcist tanks cut down their first wave with withering volleys of fire. However, the second wave manages to breach the fortress walls of the Ecclesiarchal Cathedral. At the heart of the battle, Praxedes battles a monstrous Hive Tyrant. Even after it deals her a mortal blow, her faith in the Emperor gives her the strength to deliver one final attack with her mace. Guided by His hand, she caves in the Hive Tyrant’s skull and, with their overfiend dead, the Tyranids fall into confusion, proving no match for the righteous Battle Sisters.

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But while these tales are well known, we’re taking the opportunity to dig deeper into the history of the Adeptus Sororitas and look at some of their more recent battles. We’re excited to present a sneak peek at some of that extended lore from the forthcoming codex right now.

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Celestian Crusade

Accompanied by various Imperial and xenos agents, Celestine travels to Macragge in the heart of Ultramar, where the Primarch Roboute Guilliman is awakened from stasis. Celestine then accompanies the Primarch on his long and perilous crusade bound for Terra. Throughout their journey, the members of the crusade are beset by the servants of Chaos, including the enraged Bloodthirster known as Skarbrand and the Daemon Primarch of the Thousand Sons, Magnus the Red. The Imperial forces eventually reach Terra, and while Guilliman seeks an audience with the Emperor, Celestine departs to spread her blessings elsewhere.

Path of Righteousness

The Ecclesiarchal Missionary Dalomat de Montbard gathers a massive conclave of pious warriors and declares a War of Faith. He takes his campaign on a path of righteous destruction that leads straight into the Cicatrix Maledictum. Nothing more is heard of the zealous Missionary, nor his faithful soldiers, until a decade later when a coffin containing his body emerges from a warp storm in the far galactic west. Alongside Dalomat’s remains is a journal containing accounts of battles that span hundreds of years.

The Threshing Fields

En route to Ultramar, a fleet of Sororitas comprising multiple Preceptories of the Bloody Rose stops on the lone planet in the Thresh System. The halt in their progression is in response to a divine vision received by Sister Assumpta, a Sister who has yet to see combat. The Sororitas array themselves for war on the utterly lifeless world, and hold their positions for a day while the Canoness of each Preceptory prays for guidance. Their holy duty is made clear when a tendril of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Ouroboris spews into the system.

The xenos creatures hone in on the Bloody Rose’s position and descend upon the planet in great waves. Swarms of skittering predators are butchered by the Sisters, squads of Sororitas are devoured by ravenous monstrosities, and before long the barren world is drenched in blood and ichor. Knowing that the Tyranids feed off biomass, the warriors of the Bloody Rose ensure that every corpse – human and xenos – is burnt to ashes. After six months, the influx of Tyranids into the system ceases, and after six more the last xenos creature is finally slain. Sister Assumpta is the only member of the Sororitas force to survive.