Stormbringer is a weekly hobby magazine from Hachette Partworks introducing players to Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. In this 80-week series, our intrepid magazine-receiver will be reviewing each individual issue, its included models, and gaming materials. A Premium US subscription was provided to Goonhammer for review purposes. If you want to follow along at home, US Customers can check out Stormbringer here.

If you’ve been keeping up with these weekly partworks magazine reviews, you may have noticed a little something different. Combat Patrol, the new 40k iteration of this sort of magazine from Hachette Partworks, is also being reviewed right now. Clock the byline and you’ll see that it is not my own moniker there, but one “Contemptor” Kevin Stillman. I am passing my role as Goonhammer’s Own Sisyphus to Kevin, and he’ll be on the partworks beat for that series. I’ll still finish out this run of Stormbringer though, as I committed to this particular plastic boulder and by Zeus I’ll push it up that mountain.

The Narrative Materials

As is often the case, we get an article recapping one of the various faction vs. faction army box sets that came out at some point in the past. This week, it’s Echoes of Doom, a Sylvaneth vs. Skaven set. We haven’t gotten altogether too much-much information on the rat-men thus far in these glossy pages, so I’m happy to see them pop up. This particular set represents a conflict between the Grey Seer Skrittat and the Lady of Vines, Alarielle’s daughter. Skrittat burrowed into the realm of life, stealing a bunch of Sylvaneth soul-pods, and now the Lady of Vines is leading the charge into Aqshy to take them back. It reads kind of like a bulldozing, as the Sylvaneth mow through the Skaven in the tunnels en route, avoid getting buried by an avalanche in the mountains, then break Skrittat’s Screaming Bell and reclaim their soul pods. The Skaven definitely got theirs come Skaventide, but one thing I like about Age of Sigmar as a living setting is that factions can rise and fall as the narrative demands.

Next is a scholarly article on the anatomy of a Kruleboy. I’ve talked about this series before, where it echoes the old Xenology book GW put out back in the 2000s. Hermann Splott (great name) is the author of this particular in-universe piece, and the tone of it is one of horror and contempt. Notes are scribbled out, usually to say something similar but in a meaner tone. Their brains are compared to those of Squigs, and their art and culture compared to an unmade bed or an accident of evolution. While the tone of this is definitely meaner than most of what I’m used to from Age of Sigmar, it does touch on the imperialist undertones that formed the backbone of so much old Warhammer lore. Swap “Orruk” for any given native population, and this would read pretty similarly to any Age of Sail encounter with a local populace. I assume it’s meant as ironic or satirical, given the fact that he’s underestimating the Kruleboyz at his own peril, but I can only assume so much. I’d like to think I’m correct though, this magazine is no stranger to planting its tongue firmly within its Sigmarite cheek.

Dead Shot is a new piece of fiction this week, with its focus on a battle between the Kharadron Overlords and Hedonites of Slaanesh. In an unusual turn, our protagonist, Humfrid Gastersson, isn’t some Admiral or whatever, but just a regular line trooper. We follow him as he is shoved forward, nervously fastropes down from his Frigate, and finds himself face to face with the enemy. He at first thinks these Hedonites are the army’s generals given how well they’re dressed, but nope, everyone in this army wears silks and jewels. I think it’s a good detail to show how different these factions and their cultures are. The attack is pure chaos, with bombers flying overhead and nobody really giving orders, until most of his unit is wiped out and he’s left bleeding on the ground. He gives an aethershot suckerpunch to the Hedonite commander, gets up, and stumbles into the fray. It was a pretty enjoyable little read, if only because it humanized (Duardinized? Whatever.) the Kharadron Overlords. Usually it’s all mercantile hullabaloo and self important saga/grudge stuff, not some poor fuckup in a poorly sealed environment suit trying desperately not to die.

Lastly, we have a piece on Guardian Idols, statues erected at the edges of every City of Sigmar. These are early parts of the construction of a Sigmarite city, forming a magic perimeter around the city. These serve not just as very cool visual cues for artwork or rallying points for troops on the battlefield, but as an easy lore explanation for why you’re able to build a pleasant little village in the middle of Ghost Hell or whatever other forbidden land the Mortal Realms presents you with.

The Hobby Materials

As you may expect from the previous article, our model this week is a Guardian Idol, an impressively tall piece of scenery to add to our battlefields. Of all things, these make me think not just of the giant statues of The Argonath in Lord of the Rings, but more specifically the pair of said statues that were included as bookends in one of the deluxe editions of the DVDs. This is likely a smidge smaller, and plastic instead of whatever polystone resin was used for that particular collector’s item. The piece builds pretty simply, as is the norm for these chunkier pieces of Age of Sigmar terrain. You’ve got a stable base to pop the statue on, which sits on top of a strip of ruins that hold the whole thing up. If you wanted to pop some weights underneath you could for added stability, but I think it’ll do just fine on its own. We’re instructed to leave the statue and its straddling plinth separate so we can paint it and the wall as a pair of subassemblies, and I feel that’s a good shout. The paint process is largely washes and drybrushes, which is perfect for a piece of scenery like this. I’d like to see some more weathering, but when I get around to painting this for myself, I’ll be sure to add all the verdigris and overgrowth I like.

The Gaming Materials

The articles keep-a-comin’ with a pretty broad Core Tactics piece. This gives some general principles to play that may help players, especially the newer recruits this magazine is targeting. Part of it is dedicated to spellcasting – position your wizards outside of dispel range if possible, protect them from shooting, and have contingency plans if their spells don’t go off. For shooting units, try to keep them screened with melee infantry, keep them out of charge range, hold objectives while picking off your opponent, and think about when to support your melee infantry or focus down other targets. The biggest piece of this is on anticipating your opponent, which I think is genuinely good advice for any game system. Draw your opponent into combats that aren’t in their favor, and don’t get caught in combats just for the sake of it – if it’s not helping you score objectives or keep your opponent off them, it’s not always worth it. Consider what your opponent will do when you move around the table, and think of how to counter units they put forward. A lot of it is common sense stuff, but it drives home the point that your actions are only half the battle – your opponent has just as much control over the outcome as you do, and you should plan accordingly. I think for younger folks coming into tabletop gaming, understanding that this is ultimately a two player experience where both people have agency is huge. Hell, I’m thinking back to a guy at my game store who was beating his dad at a game of Warhammer, only for the dad to attempt to concede. Said guy refused this concession, arguing that he “was not done winning” and continued to steamroll his downtrodden father. I won’t say how old this individual was, but they were older than you’d hope. In other words, drive home this lesson at a young age, and don’t let it calcify into lifelong bad habits.

Our mission this week is Razed to the Ground. Rumors have spread of a Sigmarite settlement nearby, and the forces of Order have sent out a scouting party to check it out. Unfortunately, the forces of Destruction have already burnt it to the ground. All that remains is rubble and a Guardian Idol, standing proud above the ashes. The forces of Order huddle around said idol, deploying in the center of the board, while the Destruction army deploys on either long short edge, sandwiching them in. Said idol gives a +1 to saves on Order units, and +1 to hit for Destruction units, should any be within 6″ of it. I think it’s a fun take on the classic “defense” mission, even if I do think Order is gonna have a leg up by just stonewalling the Orruks and Grots for the first few turns.

Final Verdict

I don’t right know much a Guardian Idol is worth in this day and age, as like most terrain, Games Workshop is allergic to producing it for seemingly more than a couple months. I’m seeing them on eBay for upwards of $60, so if you want to buy one of these and still have enough leftover to buy a carton of eggs, the $13.99 cover price on this magazine will do ya. The rest of the issue was genuinely a load of fun, with tons of fun fiction and lore to read through, a fun scenario, and sound tactical advice.

See you next issue, warhams.

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