Age of Sigmar – Stormcast Eternals Praetors

Let's continue on the Age of Sigmar coverage from the Stormbringer subscription with some more Stormcast Eternals. Today, we will be looking at the Praetors from issue 15, which are available as a regular kit in the Age of Sigmar range.

Depending on where you purchase them, you will either pay 10.99 EUR via Stormbringer or 44.00 EUR retail for a box of three.

But who are the Stormcast Eternal Praetors? They are elite bodyguards who are soul-bound to protect their commanders with unwavering loyalty and magical oaths. To become Praetors, Stormcast Eternals must have a profound soul connection with their commander, whether through shared adversity or family ties in their previous life. They are reforged as a unit using the highest arts of the dwarven god Grungni, which distributes the burden of reforging and strengthens their spiritual link. This connection can result in the Praetors resembling their commander and displaying unwavering devotion, sometimes at the cost of their individuality.

The Stormcast Eternal Praetors kit consists of a single medium-sized sprue with three models. Each model is equipped with a Soulguard Halberd and can be customised with a helmeted or bare head. There is also the option to build a Praetor Prime. The miniatures are push-fit, so technically no glue is required for assembly.

The casting quality is good, with minor mould lines, and the pieces can be easily removed from the sprue. Each Praetor stands on a 40 mm round base. As these are push-fit models, the bases have pre-drilled slots.

We are going to assemble the unit one miniature at a time. Having already built a Praetor Prime as an exclusive part of the Stormbringer subscription, we are building these as regular Praetor models.

Each of these comes with two head options: bare-headed or helmeted. As these are push-fit miniatures, they are monopose and do not technically require glue to assemble. Push-fit is a technique introduced by Games Workshop a while ago for entry-level products in their range. You only need a hobby knife to remove the parts from the sprue, and you can simply 'push' the parts together as they are held in place by friction. In practice, however, this can cause quality issues, such as smaller gaps or damage to details when pieces are forced together for a snug fit. Therefore, I highly recommend assembling these in the traditional way. This involves removing the pins or filing them down, and using glue to put the miniatures together.

The models look very similar as they are all armoured/equipped in the same way. The cloaks are somewhat tricky to assemble as they tend have a long seam you have to fill.

Nevertheless, the poses are dynamic and fitting for elite bodyguards. They are very similar to the Emperor's Royal Guard in Star Wars.

There is both male and female armour, and this pose could also be built as a Praetor Prime. There is a different stance for the halberd and a third option for the head with more elaborate helmet decoration.

You will also find small base decorations to cover the unused pre-drilled holes in the bases.

I opted for full helmets for the unit as I generally prefer the less human appearance of the Stormcast Eternals. This sets them further apart from the other mortal forces in the Age of Sigmar. Here is a picture of the Praetor Prime next to the regular Praetor unit.

There is also a scale comparison of the different Stormcast units next to a regular human soldier from the Cities of Sigmar.

Finally, here is a set of assembled Praetors.

Conclusion

While I definitely like the way these look, and the poses of the three miniatures are dynamic and different enough, the overall value is an issue. At 44 EUR for a single sprue, they are just too expensive. However, if you can pick them up through Stormbringer, they are definitely worth it, and I would highly recommend doing so. Just to put the price into perspective, three push-fit models of this size used to be around the 12-15 EUR range or when coming from the Underworlds in the area of 25 to 35 EUR and we're still beyond this.

I am not the biggest fan of push-fit models, but they can be fixed with a bit of additional work during the cleaning process. Not only should you remove the mould lines, but you should also shorten and thin down the pins to improve the fit significantly and use glue! This results in a cleaner finish and fewer problems with gaps between the pieces.

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

Warhammer Age of Sigmar Stormbringer is distributed by Hachette Collections

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.