Games Workshop 99120102065" Thousand Sons Magnus The Red, Black

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As a supreme psyker, Magnus is capable of tossing out three psychic powers a round and can attempt to deny three enemy psychic powers. It may be that Magnus wishes to wear his wounds openly so that his sons might see how he too suffered at the hands of the Space Wolves – but again these don’t look like ragged injuries but clean, intentional features and most of his Legion are automatons anyway, whilst the rest are egomaniacs who probably couldn’t give a monkeys what he looks like. Here it is at last; the thing we’ve all be waiting for – a set of Space Marines who aren’t squatting! The model itself is certainly dramatic although I’ll confess that at first I felt a slight disappointment based largely on my own unrealistic expectations. What’s more the brutal, bestial elements are entwined wonderfully with the ornate armour and weapons.

Tzeentch loves those who struggle against their fate, all the while binding themselves tighter and tighter within his schemes, and the Imperium of Man has struggled so very hard indeed. On a final note it’s interesting that, although he’s not a character in the game, the shield-captain of the Custodes squad bears a striking resemblance to Constantin Valdor, the Captain General of the Custodes who took personal command of those amongst his troops who were sent to Prospero (painting by Adrian Smith again – please excuse the tiny picture of the model, I’ll replace it as soon as GW releases something better). In comparison to Ahriman Geigor is something of an every-wolf, with so little in the way of preceding background that many people assume his chances of surviving Prospero in any accompanying fiction are slightly lower than those of a red-shirted man living through a mission in Star Trek. In many images of the Hamsa eye three of the fingers are elongated and emphasised, with the thumb and little finger reduced to vestiges.

Here we have a man – supremely skilled with magic – who, through elaborate schemes and misdirection, created the modern Imperium upon which the Gods of Chaos have feasted for ten thousand years. Mazzakim has lived a life defined by selfish desires, heaping mockery upon those of his brothers, like Ahriman and Khayon, that hold lofty ideals and strive for greater ends. As a Primarch, Magnus was formidable enough; in the 41st millennium as the chosen scion of Tzeentch, twisted and made great with the power of the warp into a Daemon Primarch he is truly a terrible force to behold.

Much like Magnus himself then who, although he has claimed enormous power, will forever remain far less than he could have been, trapped forever by Tzeentch. Or you may see him as one who didn’t heed the warnings from those wiser and better informed than he was, toying with forces he was ill-equipped to handle. In a particularly nice touch the disk of Tzeentch is double-sided allowing it to be reversed to create two different looking disks for your sorcerers to ride. Magnus the Red – so known because of his unusual, copper-coloured skin – was always special, even amongst his Primarch peers being stolen and dispersed throughout the galaxy in their technological creches.Lord of Flux Warlord Trait- Enemies within 12″ treat all terrain, even open ground, as difficult terrain. With that in mind I’ve started work on a little coven of Tzeentchian cultists, ready to do some of the heavy lifting and pave the way before my Sorcerers finally arrive. Perhaps the Gods said to the Emperor ‘Kill me a son’ (and the Emperor says “Man, you must be putting me on! well those two Legions (Space Wolves and Thousand Sons) would require very distinct miniatures and rules, rather unsuitable for a mass-appeal starter set. They’d also take away some of the thunder from Forge World exploration of that iconic campaign – although one wonders if GW might be planning some kind of follow-up or expansion set to coincide?

Forge World have already produced models for a number of the Heresy’s most influential figures but Ahriman has the distinction of being the first to appear in plastic and what a model he is. Thus Mazzakim has plundered the future and knows that the answer he seeks can only be claimed at a confluence of time and place. At this point the plot becomes a bit confused – some versions have it that Horus told Russ that Magnus was planning to trap him and to go in all guns blazing, or that the Emperor told Russ to kill Magnus, or that Russ was caging for a fight anyway and decided to have his revenge on Magnus for all the times he’d shouted ‘walkies’ at him or confused him by pretending to throw a ball whilst actually hiding it behind his back. Yeah, I’m all for a bit of a points drop given he’s just a really good psyker that is susceptible to getting wrecked if he doesn’t have a blessing up… but 400 points would be insane. Perhaps there’s a clever explanation waiting to be revealed but for now, his name at least remains something of an enigma.The kit also contains three different faces, unusual for a unique character (apart from politicians which come with two as standard) but perfect for Magnus who was capable of transforming his appearance and looked different depending on who was looking at him.

If you combine Magnus’ ability to reliably pop transports, thanks to his Psychic phase dominance, with his ability to summon Chariots of Tzeench with their AP3 shots you get a great Battle Company counter.Each of these sons was particularly good at certain things, for example Dorn was good at building forts, Perturabo was good at knocking them over again, Fulgrim was good at picking clothes and Vulcan was good at living for a very, very long time whilst being terribly nice to everyone. His psychic powers quickly became apparent, as Magnus became the pre-eminent psyker on the planet, swiftly outclassing his teachers. Likewise those who’ve thrown in their lot with Horus won’t find much use in the Custodes or the Sisters of Silence, representing as they do perhaps the only two facets of Imperial society that wasn’t split in two by the Heresy. Let the ground shake, let the air tremble, for this enigmatic figure commands the very essence of psychic prowess and brings ruin upon any who stand against him. I’ve already got my eye on using him to create a custom sorcerer lord for my Chaos collection and of course plenty of people will be converting him into a 40k version of himself (the current Ahriman model being both iconic and rather old and clunky).