lit a candle 4h ago"There are a lot of truly wonderful people in our hobby." didn't know him, just saw this quote going around. good line to leave behind.
Their story
Aly Morrison was a Scottish miniatures sculptor, illustrator and figure designer whose work helped define the look of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 from their earliest days. Over a career of nearly five decades, most of it with Citadel Miniatures and Games Workshop in Nottingham, he sculpted dwarfs, goblins, orcs, ogres,…
Aly Morrison was a Scottish miniatures sculptor, illustrator and figure designer whose work helped define the look of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 from their earliest days. Over a career of nearly five decades, most of it with Citadel Miniatures and Games Workshop in Nottingham, he sculpted dwarfs, goblins, orcs, ogres, giants, Chaos warriors and early space marines that generations of tabletop gamers have painted and played with. Fans of what is now called Oldhammer, the hobby's first era, regarded him as one of its founding hands.
Morrison came originally from Scotland. Before joining the Citadel design studio he is described by the fan reference work Lexicanum as having worked as a cartographer for the state. His miniature design career began as a young man around 1977. He contributed art to the Scottish Dungeons and Dragons fanzine Underworld Oracle and, with the fanzine's co-editor Lou Nesbit, developed models for the small Oracle Miniatures range. He then worked freelance for several companies, including the historical figure maker Mike's Models, before his work caught the eye of Bryan Ansell, who gave him freelance commissions for Citadel Miniatures in 1983.
In Edinburgh he met Trish, a jewellery and silversmithing student at Edinburgh College of Art, through their mutual friend Donald Brotchie. She was fascinated by the detail in the tiny figures he was sculpting, and the pair rented a studio together in the historic Grassmarket area of the city. When Trish tried sculpting a two headed Beastman herself, Aly showed it to Ansell on one of his trips to Nottingham and she too was offered work. Aly and Trish married in 1984 and spent about eighteen months in a top floor tenement flat in Edinburgh, sending finished models to the Citadel studio by post or carrying them down by train.
In 1986 Morrison accepted a full time post at Citadel and the couple moved south to the design studio at Enfield Chambers in Nottingham. In 1988, as part of a Bryan Ansell initiative to diversify the figures Games Workshop sold, Aly and Trish founded Marauder Miniatures. Marauder relied on Citadel for manufacturing and distribution, but the Morrisons were free to run the studio as they saw fit. The range proved remarkably durable. Its dwarf Troll Slayers were never replaced and remain the current models for Warhammer: The Old World, and fans still celebrate the Marauder Giant, the Chaos Dwarfs and the Marauder ogres. Marauder was absorbed into Citadel in 1993. While Trish became known as the studio's maker of monsters, Wargamer described Aly's designs as full of whimsy and wit, with the exaggerated animation of a Jim Henson puppet.
Reference works credit Morrison with figures across almost every Games Workshop range: Imperial Guard and space marines for Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader in 1987, the only known Jokaero miniature, trolls, centaurs, goblin wolf riders, Night Goblin and skeleton plastic regiments, Plague Monks, Dwarf Runesmiths, Blood Dragon vampires and Necromunda Spyre Hunters and Pit Slaves in 1995. He also sculpted Josef Bugman, the special model sold at Bugman's Bar at Warhammer World, and the limited edition Grombrindal model with Bugman and Gotrek Gurnisson made for White Dwarf's 30th anniversary in 2007. His illustrations appeared in Rogue Trader and Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness. By the 2000s his title was Senior Figure Designer, and he was a guest of honour at Games Day Atlanta in 2007. In 2019 Games Workshop featured him as the guest on episode 13 of its StormCast series.
Aly and Trish had one child, a daughter, Mharaid, whose birth in 1992 was announced in White Dwarf issue 150 under the heading "New Marauder Miniature". The couple later separated and Trish now works as Trish Carden. In 2017 Aly started a blog, Aly's Toy Soldiers, where he wrote warmly and with plenty of jokes about painting historical armies (Napoleonics, Samurai, Pyrrhic Wars and a Dad's Army collection among them), visits to shows such as Partizan, and living with the chronic condition fibromyalgia. He retired from Games Workshop on 1 May 2026, marking the day with friends at Bugman's Bar. "I do like retirement," he wrote that summer.
Aly Morrison died in November 2026. Trish Carden announced that he had "passed unexpectedly but peacefully this Wednesday". The news was first shared by the specialist dealer Warhammer Original Artwork and reported by Wargamer on 12 November 2026. His cause of death has not been made public. Tributes poured in across the hobby, with fellow gamers and retailers calling him a legend of the miniature world.
Biography adapted from Wargamer obituary by Timothy Linward (12 November 2026); Trish Carden's statement; Aly's Toy Soldiers blog; Lexicanum; John Wombat interview with Trish Carden (2020); Warhammer StormCast Episode 13.
In their own words
“There are a lot of truly wonderful people in our hobby.”
Aly's Toy Soldiers blog, 21 October 2026, after friends checked on him at the Partizan show
“I do like retirement.”
Aly's Toy Soldiers blog, 1 July 2026
“I finally retired nearly two weeks ago (1st May).”
Aly's Toy Soldiers blog, 13 May 2026
“Mharaid and I are heartbroken to announce the passing of Aly Morrison, a very much loved father, veteran wargames miniatures designer and friend to many around the tabletop and the world.”
Trish Carden, announcing his death, November 2026 (via Wargamer)
“We've lost a absolute legend in the miniature world”
Bitzbox on X, 12 November 2026
Photos
1by People Forever
From social media
5Posts by Aly, and posts about them, kept here so they are not lost.