Today Warhammer 40K fans, we are going way, way back to the mid-1980s to look at the Games Worshop minis that started it all.
Before there was Rogue Trader, there was Citadel Miniatures and from the late 1970s they made minis from just about anybody. Here’s just a couple of examples from those very very early days.
Imperial Romans from 1982.
Licensed Lord of the Rings from 1984 (decades before the plastic New Line Cinema range)
Licensed Dungeons & Dragons minis from 1985.
Licensed Judge Dredd minis from White Dwarf 82 (1986).
Welcome to 1986 Friends
It was a different world back then. Ronald Reagan was President of the United States, and Margaret Thatcher was PM of the UK. Aliens and Top Gun ruled the box office (special shout out to the The Transformers: The Movie), and the Space Shuttle Challenger was tragically lost. It was a rough year to be honest. But something was being percolating in a top secret gaming lab in Nottingham…
Early Inklings of the Grimdark
It was only a matter of time until Citadel moved into making their own worlds and miniatures. While Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader would arrive in 1987, some miniatures and designs were available beforehand, previewed in White Dwarfs from the mists of time.
The First Space Marines
These guys arrived in 1986.
The earliest Space Marines established the beaky helmet, studded pauldrons, and torso that would become Astartes canon for decades. Their legs would change drastically in time, and the Napoleaonic inspired power-pack would be added, but you can see these early fellows and their wire-encrusted weapons all over the Rogue Trader artwork like this:
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Hulking monsters of dark technology.
The Earliest Non-Marines
But it wasn’t all Adeptus Astartes. Space Marines weren’t the only denizens of the early proto-grimdark. GW knew they needed to invent their own IP and cast a very, very wide net.
The first set of Rogue Trader minis offered in 1987.
Look at the wild diversity in there. You get models that would go on to found entire ranges such as the Space Orc, Imperial Troopers, Space Dwarf, Dark Elf Space Trooper, and the Imperial Bodyguard. Then you got some oddballs like the Piscean Warrior never to be seen again (except in very obfuscated Necromunda lore, see below). Note the early Astropath (Imperial Psyker) Imperial Guard (Imperial Troopers), and Adeptus Custodes (Imperial Bodyguard) even at this early time. Even now in 2025 the Leagues of Votann carry on the Space Dwarf line (after a decades-long gap).
Again, many of these miniature designs showed up in the Rogue Trader artwork all over the place:
Nice pants, Custodian! The Custodes have gotten a bit more bling, and a little less Chippendale dancer over the decades.
40K’s Playtest Races Lost to Time
Finally I will leave you with this – the early playtest models used in the development of Rogue Trader. Is that what I think I see down there?
Menfish!!! (and a wolfman)
21st Century Homages
Every once in a blue moon, GW will tie some of these playtest and early races into either the lore or outright miniatures ranges. The Menfish (above, center) were a race from Warhammer 1st edition that could been in the reflections of the Idoneth Deepkin decades later.
The Wulfen live on as modern Space Wolf Wulfen. Go 13th Great Company!
Sseveral years back, the Pisceans made a subtle return as a “secret race” on Necromunda – and possibly the power behind the throne of House Delaque. They even got these creepy minis:
~Who knows, maybe one day Idoneth Deepkin will make their way into the grimdark, the Custodes will remember where they keep their skin-tight pants, or the Sl’harsh will pop up as a xenos race?
Early miniature images via Stuff of Legends
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Dad, Gamer, Publisher, Pilot, Texan. All games all the time since junior-high.
I started BoLS Interactive in 2006. I’m a lifelong tabletop & RPG gaming enthusiast, and internet publisher working to entertain and inform my readers every day.
I’ve been playing RPGs and Tabletop Games since the 1970s. I’m been playing and covering Warhammer and Warhammer 40K for over 35 years.
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