Age of Sigmar – Stormcast Eternals Gardus Steel Soul

We're doing smaller unboxings and reviews along the line of the Stormbringer subscription. Back in the shipment with issue 14 to 19, we got the 2021 Stormcast Eternal Character of Gardus Steel Soul.

The miniature as part of the magazine series is a proper steal, as the regular price is 34 EUR and it is currently more or less Mail-Order exclusive, so not much you can do about a discount. But at 10,99 EUR it is very solid.

Gardus Steel Soul is a Lord-Celestant of the Hallowed Knights Stormhost, and their silver and blue armours provide a bit of variation to the poster boys of the Hammers of Sigmar. The artwork you can see on the cover of the magazine comes from the Black Library novel Hallowed Knights: Black Pyramid.

Below you can see the box art along with the optional helmet variant of the head.

The miniature fits inside a single sprue including a massiv base-topper, to provide a striking decoration for his superhero landing. Casting is top notch, nothing to argue here. A bit of mould lines, but beyond that rapid preparation for assembly.

Gardus comes with a large 50mm round base.

As you can see, the base topper almost covers the entire base and orientation is easy as it is a round base. We choos early on, if we want to go with a bare head or the helmet variant. As I want my stormcasts to look more like the soulless reforged type, I prefer the helmets/ masks. The upper body armour would make a great piece to convert a Terminator in an artificer armour, maybe for Celestial Lions or Astral Claws.

Games Workshop went a clever route in the way they cut this model, as the multiple layers create not only a dynamic pose but provide a very sharp finish, as they cover undercuts and other limitations of plastic moulds.

Converting Gardus to your needs shouldn't be a bigger problem, like swapping the weapons (you will have bits from other Stormcast kits) or adding other details, to make him fit your stormhost (for example adding fur to his shoulders).

Interesting pose, something you don't see that often.

Conclusion

I have my issues with the full price characters beyond 30 EURs, especially if they are "simple" infantry. When mounted, monsters or otherwise larger, I can live with that but 34 EURs for this model is a stretch. Even if it has a refreshing pose and is not the 300th hero on an important stone.

But as part of the subscription, or if you can pick it up from the back order, it certainly is a fair deal. The miniature has potential, as you could include it in an interesting diorama (having him land on the back of a Maw-Krusha, or holding down an enemy before landing a final blow). Beyond that, I think it is sad that these models have so little variation. Here you have a helmet or bare head, but having an alternate weapon, or at least have the hammerhead a bit more ornate, would go a long way.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar Stormbringer is distributed by Hachette Collections

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.