40 Years of Warhammer: Miniature Retrospective – Lord of Plagues

The Lord of Plagues marched forth from the artwork and inspired the look of an entire Nurgle range update!

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Warhammer and Games Workshop is taking some time to look back at miniatures that had a big impact on their work. Today it’s time to check out one putrid miniature that really changed the followers of Nurgle and impacted the range in lots of ways. It’s the iconic Lord of Plagues!

via Warhammer Community

“He was inspired in part by Adrian Smith’s classic artwork of Korpus Festerheart, though Chaos Warrior art throughout the ages has overflowed with towering armoured figures wielding sizeable axes with unhurried menace and all of these attributes are writ large in the Lord of Plagues.”

Lord of Plagues

The Lord of Plagues originally landed on the scene as a Chaos Lord of Nurgle and was a big hit with fans. The new (at the time) plastic kit really captured the vibe of Nurgle in ways we hadn’t seen before and it was a big step-up for the Nurgle range as a whole. The lessons learned from this model would then echo throughout the rest of the (eventual) Maggotkin range. But even all of this owes a lot to the artwork that inspired it:

“Many elements of this iconic champion became touchpoints for future followers of Nurgle. The full-face executioner’s mask with a trio of seeping eye holes, lopsided horns sprouting from a curved armour plate, flesh covered with sores, and internal organs bursting forth. “

The key elements can be spotted in many of the heavy hitters of Nurgle’s mortal followers still. And it’s from this model and this artwork that we see the evolution of the Putrid Blightkings, Maggoth Lords, the Glottkin, and other foul heroes like Gutrot Spume!

The Maggotkin of Nurgle have always been morbid and gross but it’s hard to look away. Each model has some much character and detail you just can’t help but stare. It’s an impressive range of miniatures and the Lord of Plagues helped to shape the rest of the Maggotkin. So if you’re a fan of them be sure to raise a toast to Nurgle Chaos Lord that is the Lord of Plagues!

Such a cool model and the artwork is still inspiring to look at.

Author: Adam Harrison

Writer, Editor, Texas Native, and Austinite for 15+ years, Adam covers all things Tabletop Gaming. Which includes Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, D&D, Board Games and everything else that involves dice, boards, cards and a table. A hobbyist, player, and collector of miniatures and games, Adam's current obsession are his Death Armies for Age of Sigmar, his Blood Angels and Tyranids for 40k, and his ever growing Arkham Horror: The Card Game Collection.