40k is all about narrative carnage; while Martin writes slowly, GW just quietly deletes your childhood hero from the range and calls it “streamlining.”
George R.R. Martin may take years to off a few fan favorites, but Games Workshop is deleting characters faster than you can say “Last Chance to Buy.”
Between codex drops and webstore purges, your favorite Warhammer 40k hero is one refresh away from being labeled “streamlined.”
Warhammer Just Got a Whole Lot Grimmer
In the grand game of fictional slaughter, GW has entered the chat with the energy of an executioner on double time. In 10th edition the Legends list has turned into a digital mass grave of beloved characters, discontinued kits, and discontinued dreams.
Commissar Yarrick? Dead but maybe not dead. Castellan Creed? Canonically toast.
Sevastus Acheran, and Lucian Trajan? Officially deleted from the roster, courtesy of the latest 500 Worlds lore dump. It’s like a company-wide purge dressed up as “narrative development.”
And if you thought the Red Wedding was bad, try being a Firstborn Space Marine with a Finecast body in 10th Edition.
The Great Legends Exodus: A Six-Year Bloodbath
Let’s talk numbers, because the Warhammer doesn’t lie. Since 2019, Warhammer 40k has sent dozens of characters and units to the big hobby shelf in the sky. Some went quietly. Others were ripped from codices mid-edition like they owed the Emperor back taxes.
Aeldari: The Ancient, the Beautiful, the Deleted
GW Model From the 1990s
GW pulled the plug on some of the most iconic Eldar heroes. Karandras, Prince Yriel, Illic Nightspear, and even Urien Rakarth have been boxed up and labeled Legends. If you’ve still got an Autarch Skyrunner or a Webway Gate, congrats, you’re officially a Warhammer archaeologist.
Grey Knights: Fewer Heroes, Same Psychic Hangover
Stern and Draigo are gone, which leaves the Grey Knights with fewer poster boys and more unpainted metallics collecting dust. Sure, they still banish daemons, but without a big-name leader, it’s like running the Jedi Order with no Yoda.
Space Wolves: From Fenris to Forgotten
The Sons of Russ got hit like a Thunder Hammer to the jaw. Canis, Lukas, Harald, Krom, and even Logan Grimnar’s sled went straight to Legends. It’s poetic in a tragic Norse saga kind of way, except it’s just a spreadsheet that says “discontinued.”
Astra Militarum: Creed, Yarrick, and the Fallen Regiments
The Guard lost more characters than an HBO series finale. Straken, Harker, and half the Catachan roster disappeared from the webstore faster than a conscript on a morale check. Still, rumor says Yarrick might crawl back from the dead, and honestly, who’s betting against him?
Orks, Tau, and Chaos: Everyone Gets a Turn
Orks lost their Big Gunz, Tau lost their Forge World toys, and Chaos Daemons lost, well, their daemons. Seeker Chariots? Deleted. It’s like GW is cleaning house with a flamer template set to “brand new codex.”
The Firstborn Are Almost All Gone
And here we are, at the grand finale of the great Warhammer purge, where Firstborn Space Marines go to that big display cabinet in the sky. GW has been quietly shoving dozens (and dozens) of classic models into the Legends dumpster over the years, making room for the shiny new Primaris poster boys.
But it’s not just the old-school heroes getting Thanos-snapped. Even the big names from the Space Marine games, Sevastus Acheran and Lucian Trajan, just got written out like side characters in someone else’s DLC.
The wild part? GW doesn’t even make it dramatic. No campaign, no cinematic, just a casual blog post saying, “Yeah, they’re gone now… anyway, check out this new box set.”
The Age of “Streamlining”
Every time Games Workshop says “streamlining,” another model disappears. It’s the corporate version of “off-screen death.” One minute you’re painting your favorite HQ, the next you’re told it’s “no longer supported for matched play.”
Fans have been joking that “going to Legends” is the new “getting killed off.” But jokes aside, that list is now long enough to qualify as its own faction. The Legends Index Detachment, where all your childhood memories fight for relevance.
And let’s be honest, there’s something darkly funny about how GW moves faster at killing characters than finishing an edition’s FAQ. George R.R. Martin still hasn’t finished The Winds of Winter, but GW just finished erasing The Winds of Cadia.
The Hobby Coping Mechanism: Narrative Carnage
Here’s the thing: Warhammer players are resilient. We’ve seen Primarchs go into the warp or die, come back, and die again. We’ve weathered codex resets, model purges, and resin heartbreak. At this point, we’re practically trauma-bonded to the brand.
So what do we do when our favorite unit gets axed? We keep painting it anyway. We build narrative armies, we make custom datasheets, and we run homebrew campaigns where Creed still shouts orders from the trenches.
If George R.R. Martin writes tragedy, we convert it. Literally.
Hope in the 41st Millennium (Sort Of)
Rumors swirl about 11th Edition Warhammer 40k bringing back some of these fan favorites. Maybe we’ll see a new Yarrick model or a new Karandras sculpt. Or maybe, we’ll just get more Intercessors with a different gun and a name like “Vanguard Infiltrator Devastators.”
Whatever happens, one thing’s clear: Games Workshop has made character death an art form. Martin kills for drama. GW kills for SKU space.
So next time your favorite model vanishes from the webstore, pour one out for them, then check the Legends Field Manual. They may be gone from matched play, but they’ll always have a place on your shelf, and in the Army List in your heart
See All the Legends Models Since 2019
GW has been killing characters off since day 1. The difference is that they have suddenly become pillow-fisted with characters that have models…which is alot of them. Most of the characters you listed arent “dead” including Castellan Creed who survived Cadia exploding at the last second by resident Necron Deus Ex Machina Trazyn the Infinite. GW no longer has the balls to kill a character if they have a plastic model, because its profitable to just churn out a new model. Yarrick? most certainly alive. Draigo? Dead until they revamp the GK line and bring him in as a towering miniature on a 50mm base that costs $80. Acheran was codex footnotes…Chairon was a side character, neither of which were anyone’s favorite childhood characters, and were barely even characters. They have no minis, so its safe for GW to kill em.