Age of Sigmar – Krondys, Son of Dracothion and Karazai the Scarred

The Stormbringer subscription covered not only the weekly magazines, but also an optional premium upgrade. With the fourth shipment (issues 14 to 19), which included the first premium part of the subscription, you received the dual kit of Krondys, Son of Dracothion and Karazai the Scarred, two dragons from Age of Sigmar.

Dragons have always played a significant role in the World of Warhammer due to its high fantasy setting. This didn't change with the updated Warhammer Age of Sigmar brand. The boxed set features two variants of the Draconith dragons, an ancient dragon race in the Mortal Realms and the offspring of the cosmic dragon god Dracothion: the brothers Krondys, Son of Dracothion, and Karazai the Scarred. Krondys is renowned for his majestic presence, wisdom and mastery of celestial magic. He serves as one of the most powerful allies of the Stormcast Eternals and is a symbol of hope for the forces of Order. His brother, Karazai the Scarred, is marked by deep battle scars and is famous for his aggressive nature, martial prowess and unyielding courage on the battlefield. This makes him an inspirational and terrifying sight for both allies and enemies.

The RRP of the set is 135 EUR. If you pay an additional 2 EUR per issue (38 EUR until you get the first shipment) to access the premium upgrade within the subscription, you will receive this massive kit. It is spread across three large sprues and comes with a 160 mm round base.

The sprues contain a total of 55 parts, offering a variety of options for building different designs of Krondys and Karazai. The organic shapes and large parts are fitted into the sprue properly, with only minor mould lines.

A model of this size needs a base to stand on, and this one is the size of a small dessert plate. The sprue even includes scatter terrain to fill in the base, in this case a few ruins. And, since we're still talking Warhammer, a few skulls are a must!

The core of the dragon is the same for both models. The parts are cut very cleverly and fit together properly, leaving almost no gaps, and they are incredibly detailed. It's amazing to see what can be produced in plastic nowadays. Not only does it take the ability to produce this in plastic, but also an understanding of the technology to slice the design into pieces in such a way that the limitations of injection-moulded plastics are not a limiting factor.in a way that the limitations of injection mould plastics do not limit the plasticity.

The dragon's body is already about 13 cm long, and it will soon have its tail and the shoulder parts of the wings. These are generic for both poses.

As Krondys and Karazai sit differently on the ruins, they have different pairs of claws for the alternative poses. As the main difference between the two poses is the position of the heads, you can obviously swap the claws if you prefer the alternative poses.

The model's volume increases drastically once you add the wings. Just look at that spread!

This kit includes two different heads to capture the distinct appearance and character of Krondys and Karazai. Both can be built in full.

Further parts that distinguish between the models are the armour plates and the tail tips. Krondys looks more honourable in the Draconith armour, while the scarred look of Karazai continues onto his tail.

You could magnetise the heads if you want to, as the armour covers the transition at the neck. Beyond that, though, this is an impressive sculpt.

As mentioned above, dragons have always been part of the Warhammer world. We even had a plastic kit in the mid-90s as part of the Talisman expansion, Dragon's Tower. This was later made available by mail order and could be used as the mount for Asarnil the Dragonlord. The size and proportions have changed, and are far less goofy.

Towards the end of the 8th edition, we received a lot of impressive models from Warhammer Forge (the fantasy division of Forge World) and the Monstrous Arcanum, such as this Carmine Dragon, which was sculpted by none other than Trish Carden. It is much closer to the new design, and it's a shame the project was cut short, as we would have seen many more interesting sculpts from the Old World. However, maybe these will return with The Old World. In the case of the Carmine Dragon, there was even a mounted character variant (Elspeth von Draken).

Both poses are well designed and provide an up-to-date impression of a dragon in the Warhammer Age of Sigmar.

The second head, whether it may be Krondys or Karazai, would make a great bust in its own right.

Conclusion

The Krondys/Kazarai set is very interesting. It is well designed and causes very little trouble for a model of its size. While it is not for absolute novices, you definitely wouldn't need the expertise that other kits of that size require. The fact that it is not a challenging kit is a huge plus! Another advantage is that the pose is not totally fixed. However, compared to other kits in its price range, it does not offer the same variety of options (just look at the Great Unclean One, Verminlord or Gargants). It could also have had a more elaborate base design/topper with more going on to raise the entire miniature a bit higher.

My biggest issue is the price: 135 EUR is just excessive. You get two and a half large sprues, which works out at more than 40 euros per sprue. The Stonehorn Beastriders from the Ogor range have the same amount of plastic, far more bits/options, and cost less than half the price. We're not comparing different manufacturers, but within the Citadel miniature range. If you can get this through a subscription or from an independent store with a 20% discount, it would be in a reasonable price range. I really think it should be priced at around 90–110 EUR RRP, similar to the Ionus Cryptborn (same amount of plastic, but with an RRP of 110 EUR).

• Production Quality: 5/5
• Design appeal: 4/5
• Options / Customization: 3/5
• Value for money: 2/5
• Ease of Assembly: 4/5

Warhammer Age of Sigmar Stormbringer is distributed by Hachette Collections

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.