Age of Sigmar Stormbringer Magazine 14 to 19
Issues #14 to 19 arrived with the fourth shipment of German Stormbringer by Hachette, including the first premium upgrade - the plastic kit for the dragon Krondys - Son of Dracothian.
Since the third shipment the issues are bundled in packs of 6 for subscribers, and this will continue until the end of the run. The issues themself are packed differently for subscribers from the way you will find them at your local newsagent.
You can find an overview on the issues so far over here, along with the detailed unboxings of the initial 3 issues, issues 04 to 07 and issues 08 to 13 on this blog as well.
And I have to say, it is quite satisfying to receive a monthly pack of hobby goodies. At around 44 EUR per month (52 for Premium) it's not a bad deal, as you usually have at least 50% savings towards RRP and always have the option to trade in or sell off the content you don't need with other hobbyists - at least at what you paid for the magazine.
With this shipment we get another inlay for the Armies of Destruction along with a second paper gaming mat, that is initially anncounced for the next shipment.
And if you went for the Premium upgrade, you get a seventh issue along with the sprues of Krondys.
With Issue 14, release date April 24th, you get a trio of Kruleboyz Man-Skewa Boltboyz.
The unit was introduced with Dominion, but these are the multipart models from the individual boxed set, at 42,50 EUR and not the push-fit models from the old starter set. This provides you with quite the savings. Beyond that, it is worth looking up the instructions of the individual kit, as it has more options than the leaner Stormbringer assembly instructions cover.
While you can build three Boltboyz, the sprue includes the option for a Boltboy Boss, complete with banner pole, a choice between two helmets, and a different crossbow.
These models have rules for the use in Warcry and you can find them in the Warbringers of Destructions PDF.
Regarding the issues content, you get the lore, assembly and painting on the Boltboyz, along with lore on the Ogor Mawtribes and Alliances, as well as a scenario for the introductionary game play rules.
As we got the Stormbringer exclusive Praetor Prime in issue 04, with issue 15, from May 1st, you can build a whole squad of Praetors.
The models are the same as with the Dominion kit, and use the push fit method. They are sold as a boxed set at 42,50 EUR and in my opinion quite a steep price for just three models, especially with them being part of the starter set. Anyhow, certainly a much more reasonable price with this magazine. You can build a prime from the trio, and you have the option between two heads (bare and with helmet) for each model.
These models have rules for the use in Warcry as well and you can find them in the Stormcast Eternals PDF.
The issue gives you the information for assembly and painting, but more importantly does a deep dive on the warscrolls, which are data sheets of Age of Sigmar, covering the rules and stats for the individual units. This is really interesting as were moving from warbands to small armies and you can now start playing the first "full" games of Age of Sigmar.
On May 8th Issue 16 is released and covers the first terrain within the series.
The Primal Lair is not really Age of Sigmar terrain, but was part of the Warhammer Underworlds Beastgrave range, and a visual update to the hexfield miniature boardgame. We did a review on them back in 2019 and you can read it here - Beastgrave Primal Lair.
It used to have a RRP of 25 EURs, so the saving is quite nice. Due to its shape it can be used as point-of-interest or mission markers, but the size of these pieces was designed with the size of the boardgames hexfields in mind.
The issue focuses on further lore progress along with handing you more warscrolls for your units, and introducing - very fittingly - the use of terrain for your games.
The next issue, No 17 from May 15th, gives us further paints, in this case a black base colour and a dark wash.
In terms of saving, the issues with the paint pots are a bit difficult, as you spend more for the magazine than you would for just buying the two paint pots (Citadel Colour Base Abaddon Black 3,60 EUR and Shade Agrax Earthshade for 6,30 EUR). But considering that you have savings off 50% and more with the issues covering miniatures, it evens out.
Regarding the new pages for your binder, these cover lore on the Kruleboyz warclans, the age of Chaos and armies of Destruction, along with the use of the brush on primer as well as washes.
Towards the end of this month, on May 22nd, with Issue 18, we will see another Warhammer Underworlds warband included in this series, Da Kunning Krew.
The Kruleboyz warband for Underworlds was introduced in 2021 as part of the Adepticon previews, and is now part of the regular Age of Sigmar - without the gaming cards for Underworlds - at a RRP of 32,50 EUR. Notice that these don't come with regular plastic bases but have pre-designed bases included in the sprue. All these models are push-fit.
And unlike the Underworlds run of the sprues, they don't come in light green but regular grey plastic.
As you would expect, the issue covers a bit of lore, assembly and painting of the Kunning Krew, along with further warscrolls and in my opinion a quite interesting introduction on the different stormhosts of Stormcast Eternals, that I didn't really had on the radar, Anvils of the Heldenhammer, Hallowed Knights, Celestial Warbringers and the Astral Templars. Especially the last looked far to grim dark of what I expected from Stormcast Eternals, but they caught my interest.
The last issue of the bundle, is number 19, to be released on May 29th, and including Gardus Steel Soul.
Gardus is the Lord Celestant of the Hallowed Knights and a character for the Stormcast Eternals, with a RRP of 32,50 EUR, so you get that model at roughly a third of this price with the Stormbringer magazine. Due to this Superhero-Landing pose he comes with a whooping 50mm round base, along his small sprue. He covers the option between helmet and bare headed.
The content of the issue give you the basics on the model (lore, assembly and painting), and quite interestingly mentions for the first time in a very long time period blu-tack, a plasticine that is used in model building to keep pieces in place for mock-ups etc. A very handy tool and usually Games Workshop doesn't reference any items that are not part of their range.
A huge addition to this shipment is the first Premium Issue, as we went for the premium upgrade for the Stormbringer subscription (just +2 EUR per issue). And in this case it provides us with the Krondys kit, a huge dragon model from the Age of Sigmar range.
He comes with a large 160mm base and three sprues. As we're on issue #19, the additional costs came up to 38 EURs - which is a bargain for this 130 EUR (!) kit.
While the issue covers the entirety of Krondys, with assembly and a more depth painting guide, not limited to the paints you were provided but overall range of Citadel Colours, I highly recommend looking up the instructions, as you can build two different dragons from this kit. Not only Krondys, Son of Dracothian, but Karazai the Scarred.
The rules even cover a special scenario, where Krondys fights an entire army of Kruleboyz on his own.
And of course we get a preview on the next issues, and this something new as well, as we get the first kit that is split across two issues, with the Marshcrawla Sloggoth in issues #20 and #21 of Stormbringer. And we're looking forward to the brush set, as it is the subscription bonus.
Beyond that, the binder really grew with these few additional issues.
The six issues of Age of Sigmar Stormbringer cost us 65,94 EUR (plus another 12 EUR for the premium upgrade) and we got quite the value of 184,90 EUR in plastic and paints, not counting in Krondys. Very solid, as we end up paying about a third of retail for these items. The next shipment is expected towards the end of May / early June, adding two larger models and a few characters to the collection. As mentioned further above, you can find an overview on the issues so far over here, along with the detailed unboxings of the initial 3 issues, issues 04 to 07 and issues 08 to 13 on this blog as well.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Stormbringer is distributed by Hachette Collections
The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.
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