With all the Black Templars-themed fervour going around at the moment, we’re positively inundated with beautifully painted armies to show off – but how many come from one of the designers in charge of the project? Just one, and we collared team lead Maxime to talk us through their impeccable work.
Maxime: Back in 2017, I had the chance to take part in White Dwarf’s A Tale of Four Warlords – a multi-stage event where we built up armies over several months. I quickly settled on the Black Templars for my faction, having felt inspired by some of my favourite pieces of classic Warhammer 40,000 artwork.
I love the unique way the Chapter is organised and their special units such as Crusader squads, Sword Brethren, and the Emperor’s Champion. Villains (which, let’s face it, they definitely are) who think they’re heroes are always interesting to me, and the Templars’ self-righteous brutality was quite appealing in this sense – they are ruthless, single-minded, mean… and among the most epic protagonists of the Warhammer 40,000 setting!
Being a miniatures designer as well as a hobbyist, I had the distinct pleasure of leading the team that tackled the faction’s latest developments – so the least I can do is paint everything! The next additions will be the new Crusade Ancient as well as the Execrator, and I definitely need some Sword Brethren to keep things deliciously elite.
In terms of painting, I have tweaked my recipes over time but the core principle of the style remains the same: clean, cold blue-ish armour contrasting with warm–hued textured bases. Oh, and lots of iconography, making the most of Space Marines and Imperial transfer sheets lying around. It makes the miniatures pop with a touch of ‘end of the world’ drama from all of the weathering, while being reminiscent of the 3rd Edition cover by John Blanche.
These are the paints I used to get each of my miniatures finished:
Black armour:
Base: Chaos Black
Chunky highlight: Stegadon Scale Green
Highlight: Stegadon Scale Green/Wraithbone mix
Highlight: Celestra Grey
Specular highlight: Ulthuan Grey
White shoulder pads:
Base: Wraithbone
Drybrush: White Scar towards the top
Shade glaze: Ushabti Bone/Lahmian Medium mix
Deeper shade: Zandri Dust
Highlight: White Scar
Bases:
Base: Ungor flesh
Localised washes: Tau Light Ochre, Eshin Grey, and Gryph-Hound Orange
Drybrush: Screaming Skull
Drybrush (bones and rocks): White Scar on
Base trims: Rhinox Hide
Now that they are done, I can move on to our next batch of new miniatures – a great big box of [REDACTED]. They’ll definitely give [REDACTED] fans a piece of [REACTED] for the next [REDACTED]. I hope you’re looking forward to it!
Thanks, Maxime! The new Codex Supplement: Black Templars is up for pre-orders this Saturday, alongside two new Characters, a new Combat Patrol, and all sorts of other fun stuff. We’ll see you there!
