The Weird Warhammer Miniature Iceberg Explained 

Let that weirdness shine!

The Juggernaut of Khorne which was released in 1988 was so laughed at and loathed in the painting studio at the time it at one stage ended up in the bin....but we then had to retrieve it and drew straws to see who would have the misfortune to paint it....I drew the short straw..... Keep up the good work and all the best, Darren Matthews

Bob Naismith confirmed that he sculpted a stormtrooper during a Star Wars license negotiation. It was in a recent episode of The Painting Phase.

"One is a genius, the other's insane" reference had me chuckling so much that "I should call her" and "Nope" destroyed me. Laughed so much. Thank you!

Nagash's face was never meant to be - Morley's original liche-zombie head left studio bosses unimpressed, so he deliberately fast-sculpted a ridiculous silly-skull head to force them to accept his original....to his surprise/horror they went with the leery skull. Morley's interview on the Crown of Command podcast explains all.

I was chuckling over tiddyhorse the whole time, but what I desperately want to see is Ostrichman and Camelman proxied into the new 40k beastman kill team. Best if the person fielding them doesn't acknowledge their presence as unusual and the other player wasn't warned ahead of time.

I love how this video gets more unhinged as it goes. Little Timmy lmao

On the topic of the Stormfiends, basically they're Rat Ogres, which are little more than feral monsters without higher brain functions, and in order for Rat Ogres to be used as weapons platforms, Clan Moulder and Clan Skryre came up with the idea of breeding these hyper intelligent controller rats that could give the rat ogres more intelligence and ability to reason, use weapons, follow orders and tactics and what not. How do they control them? They're attached together and they share the same nervous system, and if the brain rat gets killed, the Stormfiend reverts back to more feral Rat Ogre instincts and becomes a danger to anybody around them. It's such a Skaven solution to a problem!

Someone might have already mentioned it, but I've always enjoyed that the '80s sculpting team put the heads of Ronald Regan and Maggie Thatcher onto a couple of the early harpy miniatures.

The final reveal killed me so hard, my 6 yr old literally came in the room to see "what all the noise is about!?" (because I was CACKLING). I promptly showed him and now he will not stop quoting a variety of "It's a horse... with the body of horse with a horse *6 hrs later* ...with a horse horse." *sigh*...no regrets

The best parts were not even the minis, but Louise’s one-woman play over Dwarf butt cannons almost killing herself with laughter and then that recorder flute sample almost killing me with laughter. I do love all the little details, like the Excorcist-playing hands and hidden books. I think my personal fave bit of weirdness was the heads of the old RT/2nd Ed era plastic Hive Warriors. The 2nd Ed metals modified them into something a bit less goofy, but the plastics remind me of a Roger Corman type b-grade movie monster.

Just to add a bit of context: the Sunstroke article featuring the Little Sisters of Purification and the remark of them being one of many female Space Marine Chapters is NOT an official article from Games Workshop or Citadel Miniatures. It comes a similarly-named American Company: Game Designers' Workshop (GDW), best known for making various Roleplaying Games such as "Traveller", "Twilight 2000", "Traveller: 2300" (later known as "2300 AD"), and "Space: 1889". In particular, the article comes from their official Magazine: Challenge vol. 36. That said, Official Miniatures do still exist from the time of Space Marines just being Human Marines in Power Armor (no heretical post-human mutant warrior-monks) who shared their vehicle pool with the Imperial Army/Guard/Astra Militarum/Wall of Guns. That said, I personally don't care one way or the other, I just like getting details straight. On another note, surprised not to see the Space Marine, Astropath, and the Chainsaw Warrior in the one Talisman expansion, or a note about Citadel's Daleks range.

Having worked in GW retail when the Juan Diaz Daemonettes were on the shelves, I can tell you there were a lot of awkward moments around those models.

Absolutely love the original squig swarm bases for tyranids and orks. The bizarre little spidersquigs and giant hands were incredible.

Love this video. I don't have the time to sink in Warhammer myself, but I love the wacky culture behind it.

22:23 Yay! My unreleased stormtrooper made it into your video 😃 it’s actually 1 of 4 Star Wars miniatures sculpted by the design team. BB

This is one of my favorite videos on this platform. The amazing and weird miniatures, the bouncy editing, and the absolutely infectious energy is so wonderful. 10/10

As I understand it, the cardboard dred is an official GW model, and if you put it on a properly sized base, it’s good to go.

Sly Marbo also has a *pretty major* reference to "Snake Plissken" (Kurt Russel's character from "Escape From New York" & "Escape From LA") with that autopistol looking nearly identical to Snake's suppressed Mac-10 with the uh... suppressor-mounted scope.

Referring to the GW mold line remover "Perhaps the Orks can make it work if they believe hard enough" 😂made my day, I thought it was only me that preferred a hobby knife.

Night Goblin flipping the bird is a classic, and Ork Minderz firing a Weirdboy at the enemy is just amazing, two of my favourites in my collection

Regarding the "invisible" minis, Around 2002 when the first release of the LotR game was still rather new, GW held a painting contest. I was working at a hobby store in the US and held the prize for 1st place at the store. It was an "invisible" Frodo which was actually just a metal 25mm base with some texture, a few rocks, and some footprints sculpted into it.

This has to be one of my favorite miniature/warhammer videos to date

The Lizardmen in earlier editions of Warhammer Fantasy had some fantastic names, both used generically for models but also canonized characters. Lord Kroak is the most famous one that stuck around most prominently, but you also have Tiktak'to, Itzi-Bitzi, Cuppacocoa, and I think there was one which was just named "Pina Colada" or something

Damn, many of these were a trip down to memory lane. I was a child who started with warhammer when the Juan Diaz demonettes were around, and I have only recently come back into the hobby, I didn't even know that they have changed. Those demonettes are the image that I have of that unit forever.

This is one of my favorite videos, a mix of nostalgia, humour and a sprinkling of a wonderful perspective. I had some of those mini's but sold them off when I became an adult. Years later I realized I didn't have to grow up. I miss those tiny pewter toys.

This is the content miniature gaming needs on RU-vid! So tired of the usual, way to go Louise!

The fantasy range also had cardboard "figures". The starter box at pitted High Elves against Night Goblins had cardboard pictures of the Rock-lobber, Wolf Rider chariot (I think it was) and the High Elf balista (the one with around 20 arrows)

I absolutely love your sense of humor lmfao 21:27 One thing of note about this bit of text and the Little Sisters of Purification is that they where never canon, that piece of lore was from a third party magazine publisher called Challenger IIRC? But what is very neat is the lore and personality of this chapter. They’re not treated differently from any other marines and even have some sense of humor. Well a very dark sense of humor, in a passage of lore one of them was jokingly taking bets on who’d explode first.

This channel is really living up to its name in that it’s completely rogue and brings up completely new topics that I’ve never seen anyone discuss!

Old Nagash! What a boss. He was so brutal rules-wise. Also: Sub Machinegun Wizard!

This video could have easily been an hour and I would have been enthralled the entire time in the progressively whackier miniatures and the fun little details and easier eggs, like the Genestealer Cultist's map table, the Lord of Change's magic 8 Ball, and so on. The little joking quips were also just so on point! I can't imagine the amount of time it took to track down a lot of the older stuff and reference materials and what not!

Witchfate Tor, the plastic wizard's tower GW released some years ago, has a cool floor tile design dedicated to each of the 8 winds of magic. However, hidden behind some bricks on the lowest level a partially obscured mark of Tzeentch can be found. Neat little easter egg.

Great Vid. I feel like a lot of the old minis benefited from the humour and irreverence. The Wizard with a gun is likely homage to the 1977 Wizards animated film. Worth watching.

I remember back when i was a very young warhammer enthusiast, the local GW had 6 great big ringbinders filled with old citadel miniatures that you could mail order through the store. I spent most of my time when i was in gw looking through the ring binders and ordering the strangest and most interesting miniatures i could find. I especially liked the old blood thirsters and the great unclean ones. I think at some point during 40k third edition gw got rid of the ring binders.

I love the Shokkjump Dragsta mini, especially all the 80s references it makes. If you ever do a follow-up, if you look carefully at the grot gunner, you can see he's controlling the shokk assault gun with an Atari 2600 joystick.

Don’t know much about this topic but my favorites are: -Every single one from the depths entries (Camel man looks like he wants to be put down) -Pooping snotling -Halfling ferret -old nagash (he looks so proud of his hat lol) Awesome vid🔥🔥

I recently learned about Camelman and Ostrichman from watching Jordan Sorcery and Oldhammered videos, but actually seeing the models is another thing altogether.

I've never watched a hobby channel that has felt so genuine. It's brilliant.

Went into this video not really caring about rare minis but im 4 am and playing MTGA and wanted something to watch. After the chaos toilet scene I knew I seen one of the greatest videos in youtubes history.

The "I should call her" bit is officially the best thing on the Internet in 2023 =)

I need a collab from the two most chipper, excited, and goofy hobby RU-vidrs in the business. You and @EonsofBattle I truly enjoy watching both channels for how cheery and sincere your enjoyment of the hobby is.

I'd have put the OG Pink Horrors of Tzeentch, the first ones with the Gigantic hands somewhere on the list. The versions of Horrors that came after were cooler, but the FIRST Horrors were truly wierd and interesting.

So much fun and funny memories! Thank you for putting this together 😊

Genuinely love your insight into weird, long-forgotten arcane GW stuff. It's interesting af.

I love the humour of the older miniatures, but it makes me really happy that its still going on with new releases, even if I missed some of them until you pointed them out!

That was great, I love the weird ones! I think there's a few that deserve mention in the iceberg: the tyranid squigs, particularly the slasher grabber hand tyranid squig, the early prototype tyranid models, the gene stealer hybrid family of four, and the old metal ork dreadnought with the stupid feet that did not entirely fit onto the base.

The story I heard is that the designer of that Nagash model had a disagreement with his superiors over how he should look and intentionally submitted as derp-tastic a model as he could to get them to change their minds, but they accepted it anyway instead of having him make a new one.

The Light of Eltharion I think is the closest you can get to an invisible miniature without just casting it in clear plastic.

Sly Marbo's machine gun is another easter egg as well. Its the same gun Kurt Russel's character ''Snake'' from the movie Escape from New York uses.

I don't know if a mini was ever made but I always loved the Amish dino-riding Eldar

One of my favorite weird/disturbing details are the gimp men that co-pilot the Ironstriders. You might see the walkers at first and think they're like the walkers from Star Wars... and then you see the gimp with their arms and legs amputated so they can drive a murder machine.

I love all the old weird stuff, I really wish a bunch of it was made to order or still available. Great video, made my day!

That was an amazing journey, great video Louise, well done :D

The tiny detail easter egg bits on different sculpts are very interesting, would like to see more videos about those. Also would love to see a video focusing on rare, limited edition models with insider designer insight

As a Yank who was a young lad in the 1980s, we only got a taste of the weirdness that was early GW/WHFB/40k stuff, mainly through imported issues of White Dwarf. Thanks for reminding me that GW/Citadel Miniatures were on some *freaky* stuff back in the day. ;)

This was amazing! A lot of the older stuff gives me Sir Terry Pratchett vibe, may that mad genius rest in piece.

Loved this, so much fun, great idea for a video.

I like it that you used the word odd Suggs. Odd is a much better word than "bad ," which is the usual word people use.

You're killing it with this channel! Keep it up!

I think the stormtrooper story has actually been told. Hasbro was in talks with GW about working with them, and GW gave the famous sculptor of space marines, Bob Naismith, a day to make it to prove how fast they could have the models turned out. It ended up falling apart because hasbro didn't want people painting the characters in different colors than the movies.

Thank you very much for this video. I had a real blast watching this :D

Hahahaha your channel literally kills me, this is so much fun! I appreciate the unique content and your delivery, this is the job you were made for 😂 thanks for the giggle fest. Some of these look like so much fun to paint !!!!

Where is Kremlo the Slann? He came from spaaaaace!

The brain rats on the stormfiend are there for 2 reasons. 1. The Stormfiend basically has zero functional intelligence, and were basically unusable without spending way too much work training. So, Throt developed the Brain Rats to hook up, guide and control them. 2. Mad Max beyond the Thunderdome reference. The brain rat is the Master to the Stormfiend's Blaster.

Amazing! Great video Louise. Thank you for the time and effort you’ve put into it.

Well, this is the first video I've seen in this channel. I'm 30 seconds in and I'm already subbed. So charismatic!

This went from a flat "holy sh*t..." to "HOLY GORK AND MORK ON A TRICYCLE!!!" real fast. Thank you for sharing, especially "Tiddyhorse!" 🤣

The Chaos familiars from Warhammer Fantasy 4th Edition were a wild ride. Same with the edited versions of minis for various board games like Space Crusade etc. I'd also add the limited edition minis from the 90's and early 2000's where you saved up tokens for and mail ordered them. Eg, the 3rd war for Armageddon Space Marines raising a flag diorama etc. Games day limited edition mini probably count also 😀

Some other cool minis and mini easter eggs: Johann the fleeing peasant (a guy included in the man crusher gargant kit who the sudio has used a lot), the very new Gallowdark terrain has 40k power outlets, and the beloved 90s alien cactus that are now canon in the AoS Thondia campaign book.

Channel is growing fast! Good for you!

This is one of the best videos I have seen about Warhammer, people love things like that, know stories about models, how they have been designed and all, not only painting all the time. I would love to hear more about those things, or about making models, etc..etc.. love your sense of humor 😊

I've always been partial to the 2000s era metal Tzeentch Horrors models. The ones twisting horribly and with their inner horrors trying desperately to force their way of the outer ones. If they weren't so expensive to collect, I might pick up a few for my collection. On the subject of weird Beastmen, Knightmare Games sells a number of metal or resin models that evoke the vibes of early Warhammer. As part of their "Pantheon of Chaos" line. This includes Beastmen, some of which definitely are reminiscent of the ones shown here. "The Guardian", in particular, while having a metal face mask, looks pretty "Ostrich Man" to me. No "Ostrich Man on Horse-Horse" that I can see, though.

Yay ! You mentioned the snotling doing a poo in a bucket or ork helmet. I love the classic noisemarine too.

Great Video! That montage for the Chaos Toilet had me cracking up!

The original pre-slottabase Weird Fantasy "Complete adventurer" sculpt always sparks joy when I think of it. Sadly the tiny taps on the basin atop the mound of things he carried were incredibly fiddly and invariably broke off as soon as you looked at them. The later LE version where you might not get a kitchen sink was misguided ;) In fairness, picking out almost anything from the old Weird Fantasy or Limited Edition series feels a bit like cheating though!

I’ve been checking your channel every day hoping for a new video. Thanks, Louise!

What a legendary video! I recognized maybe 50-60% of the minis and it was great to see what has been out there in the eighties.

Just found this channel and binge watched them all! Love the content and "be yourself" attitude of presenting. Wierd minis need love too! Thanks!

Not so much a weird model but a fun one is the goblobber it was a catapult which came with a goblin in a net as ammo. Was very on brand for the dwarves.

I have Jayne and Gabs. But there is only one actual female space marine, sculpted by Kev White in 1993 and never released. I have that mini too :D EDIT: As for weird and wonderful Citadel minis, what about the Fantasy Specials? All those poor women from the torture dungeon?!?!

Can't believe The Famous Familiars didn't make the list. Who could forget such wonderful characters as "Book with Legs", "Laundry Cultist", and "Robe Man"??

Haha!! That was epic! Love the content, another awesome video. 😄😄

That Sunstroke article is from Challenge Magazine #36 from 1988. The chapter of female space marines is called The Little Sisters of Purification. Not the greatest name. It's actually a really cool article though with some lore, some art, and a whole custom play scenario.

Flashing dwarf MUST BE Buffalo Bill. My brain has some WEIRD associations, but that one disgusted and impressed me in equal parts. Thanks for showing me how messed up I am, Louise, and sharing with us these amazing minis! Fun fact, the Painting Phase recently did a follow up interview with Bob Naismith and he talks about the Stormtrooper model in more detail!

Only just found your channel, I chuckled a lot at this video and I really appreciate the chance to learn more about a hobby I've only dipped my toes in. I appreciate you've been making Warhammer content for a while, but all I can think to say is keep it up!!

Your videos are so much fun to watch! you have great energy that combines well with your editing production value! Looking forward to more content =)

The new Sly Marbo sculpt also has a reference to Little Shop of Horrors on the base. There is a plant that is very, VERY similar to Audrey II.

That was awesome, entertaining and fun. Louise makes a great video. I had all the old RogueTrader space marines, but got rid of some over the years. I still have lots of old metal, my favorites were the old librarians, 3 to a pack, and the old tech marines carrying tool boxes and wrenches. Of the ones Louise showed here, I only had the old noise marine and the sexy daemonettes.

Wow. This was a work of perfection. I am so glad I subbed to your channel.

Really enjoyed this. Keep it up!

Those Female Space Marines and their lore are from a third party magazine not related to Games Workshop. GW was more loose with its IP back in the early-mid 80's and allowed their stuff to be talked about and explored in other magazines. It was like how Dungeons & Dragons allowed other magazines to print their own creative material for the game. The Female Space marines were just the creation of a fan of Warhammer 40,000 which was printed in a hobby gaming magazine.

Gobin

Really enjoyed the video, super fun. thank you!

I absolutely loved the chaotic vibe that developed as you got further into the video.

The Adeptus Astares along with the Inquisition saw how horrifically mutated the female space marines were and had to purge them all.

The two metal female marine models are Rogue Trader Sisters of Battle prototypes proven by two facts: The horned icon being the same as the one worn by ‘Sister Sin’ in tge RT book and the very simple fact that both of them have ‘SISTER’ written on the metal tab that their feet are on. The female Space Marines article was never official, it was a fan story. There are no female marines, but you can make your own, no one’s stopping you.

That was an incredible amount of GW weirdness and trivia on GW minis throughout history and many probably before you were born!! thanks for sharing it all with this awesome Video Louise!! You Rock! I don't think anyone else could have done that better or been as well connected and in the know! Whoop Whoop for you! (I may actually have the two female SM somewhere buried in my shed/loft of shame)

Dear Louise. This whole video was worthy of it's exceptionally incredible subject matter. I think it will take a few viewings to figure out my favourite miniature, and your skit on each. Sack man spinny chair and Butt cannon are strong contenders currently..... This is the content you were created to make and i love it

I've always held a little theory that the alpha legion developed female marines because a) they never went into the eye of terror so they had the time to develop the technology, b) it helps with their recruitment, c) it would expand their infiltration capabilities, and d) no one would suspect it.