Games Workshop revealed five excellent new Space Marine hero miniatures for Warhammer 40k on Friday, each one a chapter master or captain from one of the less famous first founding chapters. In this article I'm ranking them, using the only objective measure in the galaxy - my own personal (and therefore correct) opinion of their vibes.
While I'm putting these models all in a strict ranking order (which I remind you is just my opinion, and therefore objectively correct), they're all great Warhammer 40k miniatures. They are particularly welcome as special characters for the second string Space Marine chapters which don't receive anywhere near as many minis as the Space Wolves, Blood Angels, or Dark Angels.
5. Vulkan He'Stan
Someone had to be last, and sadly it's old relic-hunting Vulkan. This is a cracking plastic reimagining of a long-serving resin kit, with iconic details like the Spear of Vulkan and his drakescale cloak recreated brilliantly. But this is the most normal looking of the new heroes. He is pulling a JoJo approach pose though, so points for that.
4. Aethon Shaan
I'm gonna catch flak for putting the new Ravenguard chapter master so low. The pose is great, the face options are haunted, I want to turn him into a Night Lords Praetor for Horus Heresy. But a feather cape, hood, and a stole? Darling, less is more.
3. Darnath Lysander
Lysander has always been a perfect Space Marine miniature, a walking brick wall with a silhouette like a bowling ball and a gurn like he's trying to expel a particularly obdurate poo. The new miniature is a clean update to that classic premise, with the new, better proportions of Primaris terminators. 10/10.
2. Caanok Var
Now we're getting somewhere. This Iron Hand is so close to being a stock terminator, but each of the differences uniquely ties him to the theme of his legion. His head is unhelmeted, but almost entirely bionic; the tassets on his leg armor have two plates instead of one; he's armed with a power tetsubo, a weapon we've never seen before. Sheer class. The fact he'd make the basis for a brilliant Horus Heresy Iron Hands Morlock terminator conversion is just extra gravy.
1. Suboden Khan
The sculpting of both the Khan's facial features and his riding stance is immaculate, and this is our first look at a jetbike made by Belisarius Cawl - Suboden would be my number one mini no matter what. But mainly I'm just happy for White Scars players. The chapter is famous for riding bikes, but GW hasn't released a mounted White Scars character since Warhammer 40k third edition. This site has readers who are younger than that model.
So there you have it - my 100% factually accurate ranking of the new Space Marine characters from last week's reveals. If you think I've somehow made a mistake (I haven't), come and tell me about it in the official Wargamer Discord community. Who's your favorite?
Think this article was silly? Check out this article in which I rate all the Warhammer 40k Primarchs based on how good I think they would be at sex. This is the kind of nonsense that my editor protects the world from.