Warhammer 40,000 may be the ur-text for spirit crushing sci-fi dystopias but in the real world it has also inspired countless creative projects. Few though have grabbed our attention like former Games Workshop employee Tammy Nicholls’ range of Rogue Trader era action figures
It’s December in the late 1980s and all over the UK children are pawing through that year’s Argos catalogue, impatiently flicking past endless pages of radio alarm clocks and home fitness machines to find the all important toys’ section. There, amongst the plastic ranks of Masters of the Universe, Zoids and Transformers, a new range -that year’s hottest playground accessory- stands out, Nergal Snega’s posable Warhammer 40,000 action figures.
Now, if you’re of a certain age and currently feeling a hint of discombobulation to go with the back pain, never fear, you’re not having an episode rather you’ve just discovered the strange hauntological world of artist, and former Games Workshop employee, Tammy Nicholls.
Tammy posted the first Warhammer 40,000 action figure she’d designed and sculpted to her tears_of_envy Instagram page earlier this year, inspiring a mixture of delight and confusion. Since then she’s continued to expand both the range -recreating several iconic Rogue Trader era Space Marine colourways, limited edition Games Day figurines and now Space Elves- and the fictional story behind the figures’ manufacturer, Nergal Snega, and their often ill fated employees.
The days of Rick Priestley exhorting Warhammer players to get busy with used yoghurt pots may be long gone but the game continues to inspire endless waves of creativity from fanfic and art to all kinds of kitbashed chimeras. Tammy’s creations though, with their attention to period detail and the nagging possibility that they just might have actually existed, caught our eye like nothing else. Curious to know the story behind both them and their creator we went in search of answers...
Wyrd Science: For a good few years you worked as a graphic designer for Games Workshop, so what’s your Warhammer origin story?
Tammy: My father is quite a sci-fi buff having grown up on serials like Journey Into Space in the 1950s. He fed my sister and I a diet of Nigel Kneale, Hammer Horror and Tolkien.
When I discovered Warhammer it made sense and I was instantly intrigued by the miniaturisation aspect of it. It wasn’t long before I was confusing my parents with requests for things called ‘Chaos Renegades’.
They were slightly worried.
My fascination continued, particularly in the visual side, and in about 2004 I met John Blanche. I ended up running his personal website and working on his Femme Militant range before I joined Games Workshop in 2012 as a graphic designer.
WS: Alongside the action figures your Instagram page showcases a lot of your kitbashed models, what is it about that part of the hobby that particularly attracts you?
T: I think the hobby presents a fascinating opportunity to create within a narrative framework. It’s quite unlike anything else out there. There are guidelines, but a huge amount of sanctioned freedom. I suppose conversions are like LEGO MOCs or endorsed literary fanfic.
It’s the opportunity to create which drew me to kitbashing and the INQ28 scene in the 2010s. I have always been a frustrated sculptor as I found the process messy and time consuming.
3D printing removed a lot of the barriers for me, allows for multiple copies and it’s now one of my favourite aspects of my hobby since I started to learn about a year ago.
WS: So what led to this particular project?
T: I’m not going to lie - it wasn’t my idea! A friend came up with it during a brainstorming session and I just ran with it. I suppose the thing I’ve added is the ‘wrapper’ narrative of the fictional production company which gives it a hauntological aspect.
WS: Can you tell us a little about that narrative?
T: The fiction surrounding Nergal Snega arose from the pragmatic need for a manufacturer’s logo, which feature so prominently on backing cards. The logo then posed the question, “Who were these people and how did they end up making 40K figures?”
While there is a degree of Charlie Brooker to the fiction it does the important task of building the sense of a misremembered past - the hauntology I mentioned.
That aspect, particularly the way it relates to ideas by thinkers like Mark Fisher and creators like A Year In The Country and Hobbs Lane, is very important to me.
The figures get people’s attention, but the fiction surrounding Nergal Snega makes people think about their own connection to the era.
WS: Do you have a particular affinity with that era of 40K?
T: Yes. I’m actually Gen X’er and got into GW during the Rogue Trader era so there is a genuine nostalgia for it. GW always stood out among its competition because of its consistently high quality artwork.
I love the aesthetic they pursued from the mid 80s into the early 90s - it was rebellious, transgressive, humorous, politically savvy and peculiarly British. It reflected the largely Gen X nature of the company at the time.
WS: Now, obviously these figures could never be mass produced...
T: You’re right, GW owns the underlying IP so the project will remain as a hobby endeavour and won’t be monetised in any way. Still I want to keep going, adding more sculpts and even larger vehicles one day.
The ultimate dream is to recreate a page from a 1980s toy catalogue showing a huge range which will send Oldhammer into fits of jealous rage!
WS: Have you had any feedback from your former colleagues there? Especially those you worked with in licensing?
T: Indeed I have - they love it. I heard one funny story where someone in the GW studio told a colleague about new retro toys that are coming out, and he chuckled and had to explain about this woman called ‘Tammy’ who used to work there… That scene lives in my head rent-free.
WS: You've recently started expanding the range, so what’s next and has the reaction to them changed your plans at all?
T: My ambition is to add all the things I loved as a child - Imperial Guardsmen, Chaos Renegades, Orks, a Rhino - the list goes on! Time is the issue.
I was surprised how well everyone reacted to the first non-Space Marine. I suppose the Space Elf started to reveal my vision of a complete range and got folks excited. I now get requests from people asking to prioritise their favourite minis which just about covers every figure GW ever released!
Consequently my plans haven’t changed much. I wasn’t sure how people would react to the first ‘bootleg’ I made (the Little Sister of Purification), but they loved it so I want to do more of those, too. They allow me to explore the weird underbelly of the hobby and the fictional rivalry between Snega and the infringer JJC.
In time I’d also love to turn my attention to Warhammer Fantasy Battle too, but that’s a way off.
WS: Alongside all this you’ve worked for several other major game companies, been involved in several pervasive games and experiential art projects and published your own comics and RPGs, so what’s next for you?
T: By the time readers see this I will have moved continents! I’m hoping my new life, new home and new job will lead to all sorts of inspiration.
I’m really loving the action figure as a mode of expression and I have vague plans to create other non-GW ranges. Keeping them hauntological is important to me, so they will inevitably have ties to the 1970s and 1980s. I also want to explore puppetry but I might need to buy a bigger 3D printer first.
Stay up to date with the latest additions to the Nergal Snega range and follow Tammy on Instagram
This feature originally appeared in Wyrd Science Vol.1, Issue 5 (Dec '23)