This issue is 100% dedicated to Age of Sigmar, not a single 40K article to be found. This makes sense of course, GW is starting an entire new run of Warhammer Fantasy and it's going to push it hard. This is not only the first good look at the launch models and rules of Age of Sigmar, but also the fluff of the game as well.
The front cover shows the Stormcast Eternals from the box set, while the back shows the Khorne Goretide. Obviously both are fully painted, wonderuflly lighted and dramatically shot. GW has some really good photographers on staff, which is evident throughout the issue.
Did I mention this comes with a free Stormcast Liberator? Because it does. The basic "troop" unit for the Stormcast Eternals, this Liberator is the same sculpt as one of the models from the box set. It's a beefy model, with a load of great detail and is not only easily assembled, but done in a way to hide a lot of join points.
The opening two pages give a bit of introduction to the game as a whole, a small three step guide to putting together your Liberator (it really is that easy to do), and a dramatic two page spread of both armies from the cover coming together in battle.
The first four articles are each a lore piece and all follow a similar format. They are a page and a half picture (the first original artwork, the other three photos of armies), and a column of text that is about 6-8 paragraphs.
The articles are: The Age of Myth, The Nine Realms, Chaos Triumphant, and Sigmar Strikes!
Two things are evident in these articles; firstly the game is gearing up to follow an evolving storyline, secondly the world is not a high fantasy game, but a post-apocalyptic one.
In the Age of Mysth article, the basic start of the story is revealed here. After the old version of Warhammer was blown up in the End Times, Sigmar hurtled through the space in between worlds clinging to the last remnant of the planet. The fiery core hurtles through the planar cosmos for a few millenium until a a great interplanar dragon known as the Great Drake Dracothion notices the fiery light and checks it out.
He's surprised to see a man still alive riding it, even if that man is a great God-King, and the two become buddies. That's when Dracothion lets Sigmar in on something, the eight realms of magic that everyone used on the old world are actual planar realms and that some of the survivors (as well as many creatures and races that have always lived there) have been living there. Sigmar decides to unite these realms and goes about exploring all of them, helping them fight back the monsters that live there, uniting warring factions, and building a huge interplanar empire with him as the God-King.
So this article shows that the game doesn't pick up right after the End Times, generations have past. Empires have risen and fallen, huge swaths of history have taken place. GW may be putting out plenty of nods to the old world, but this is a new setting. It has it's own history, it's own heroes, it's own feeling.
The Nine Realms gives a few sentence description of each realm that exists in the setting. Each one is named after one of the eight winds of magic, the ninth being the Chaos realm. They each obviously have traits linked to the winds they stem from: Aqshy, The Realm of Fire has volatile landscapes and breeds aggression, for example. Shyish, The Realm of Death is where the dead go when the die and of course Chaos is the home to daemons and the chaos gods we've seen since the original Warhammer.
This article also has the first shot of models not from the core set, as the End Times Nagash model is leading an undead army against the Stormcast in another beautifully shot photo.
Chaos Triumphant sets up the immediate background of the game. Chaos notices the shining beacon that is Sigmar and his unified Realms and decides they want to get in on all those souls. They launch a massive invasion and, for the first time ever out of every story of Chaos in the Warhammer world, they are successful. They overwhelm the realms and, due to some hints at betrayals and decension among the unified empire, take them all over. People are slaughtered in genocidal ways, every bastion of civilization are sacked and put to ruin. Eventually Sigmar takes what few survivors he can and escapes to the realm of Azyr, The Realm of Heaven and seals the gates behind him to protect them from Chaos.
This drives home the post apocalyptic set-up. It says Sigmar has abandoned the other realms for centuries, leaving them as playthings for Chaos. They now are in complete control out of eight of the nine realms. This is the first time Chaos has seen as scary and powerful as they've always been hinted to be. They are nearly fully triumphant here and it sets up a "grim and dark" look at a setting the GW always likes to go for.
Finally, Sigmar Strikes! set-up the game current and presents the beginning of the storyline that is to run through Age of Sigmar. This article shows the Sigmar was using his centuries in hiding to build an army to strike back at Chaos. With the help of Grungni, Sigmar pulls various heroes from the Realms that were fighting against the tides of Chaos and transported them to his great fortress of Azyrheim. There, they are reforged as immortal warriors cast in shining armor and born of living lightning. There are the Stormcast Eternals, more than man, yet still man and now they are ready to strike back. The last paragraph talks of the first move Sigmar makes, sending a small strike force to Aqshy, Realm of Fire and reopen one of the gates to allow all the armies of Sigmar to pour through.
This is the Starter set's set-up, and leads right into The Gates of Azyr as well. While we can make many of Space Marine and Emperor comparisons here, that is not all this is. While they are bigger than normal men and cast in huge pieces of plate armor, they are immortal beings that are imbued with the power of Lightning from Sigmar himself. This also presents a perfect ongoing campaign for the entire game, that of the mortals trying to fight back against Chaos and retake their homes. The fact that this setting actually has Chaos as the current winning force defending their taken lands and the "good guys" on the attack is a complete flip from just about the entire storyline of all of the old Warhammer.
The next 12 pages takes a closer look at the Starter Set and the models found within. The article notes that the Starter Set "tells the first chapter of this war against Chaos..." reinforcing the idea of a narrative moving forward throughout the life of this game. We then get page after page of glory shots of the various models in the game. There are many close-ups showing various details and they all look glorious (as do they when they're actually in your hands). While some of the photos have text boxes that help sell the Start set, many of them have bits and pieces of lore. For instance, you can learn that the Lord-Relictor's reliquary can resurrect fallen Eternals (hence the immortal part) or that Khul's reality splitting axe was given to him from Khorne for toppling the Scorched Keep fortress. Each of these little details help build the lore of the setting and the units themselves. These are the types of lore details I love so much about GW properties.
Right in the middle of the issue, between pages 11 & 12 of the previous article is the four page rules for the game. The same rules on-line, on tablets, in the starter set, etc. It is nearly impossible to not have an extra set of these rules that you can put into a friend's hands if he's playing for the first time.
Next we have a two-page spread pimping the new products coming out. The Gates of Azyr, Painting Guide, Figure cases, and new Citadel Paints are all talked about so that you can get excited about buying them. I have two of these things and will be reviewing them later.
Then there is a two-page article showing off the basics of warscrolls. I've talked about them before, but I'll repeat that I love the idea of them. They're already showing up on-line for new models that are released and the idea that the fiddly rules that allow for deeper tactics are presented on each individual unit is fantastic. This breaks down how warscrolls work, where to find the characteristics, the abilities, and the keywords are located and what they mean.
They're easy to follow, you get a picture of your unit with the name below it and some flavor about who they are. Then the Move, Save, Wounds, and Bravery stats are presented on a wheel attached to the left of the weapon line, each with all the relevant information for the weapons they can use. Next, you get a Description (which will detail how many models a unit can have and if you have to reach a certain number to use certain weapons or abilities) and then a list of all their special Abilities. At the bottom are a list of Keywords, which are used only to help interact with other Abilities as many will say they only affect things with certain Keywords.
They don't take long to get a handle on and your eyes can easily move to the information you need. These make them infinitely more useful than handwritten army lists and removes the need to flip around in an army book to choose which things you want your units to have. The article also has four warscrolls on one page of units from the Starter Set. I'm not going to look at them in detail as I'll do that when I review the Starter Set.
The next article is entitled Sigmar's Chosen and give a few paragraphs about what the Eternals are, though little of it can't already be taken from reading the earlier articles. However, pages 3 and 4 or this 4 page article features some gorgeous artwork. Intense moving pieces and the first look at a Stormhost that aren't the standard Blue and Gold.
Next we have 6 pages entitled both Sprues and Glue and How to Paint... These are primarily aimed at beginners and makes sense if you're selling Age of Sigmar to new players. The basics of how to get models off a sprue, how to clean them, and how to glue them are all presented. Next we have plenty of close shots of various models and which (GW) paints to use to build up proper layers. Including the ever hard ability to make flesh look good. While this give a few basic definitions of base coats, washes, and layers, it doesn't do a really good job if you're entirely new to mini painting.
Get Playing Right Now! is a last two page push to explain that you can play even with your old armies. It talks about the availability of the warscrolls for the older armies and shows several pictures of the older armies as well. It also specifically calls out that it's okay to have square based and round based models as measuring doesn't come from the base.
Next we get a two-page spread detailing the four Grand Alliances of the game. This is what allows you to mix different armies if you're so inclined and I'm sure we'll have some official scenarios that will do it.
Order is the Grand Alliance fighting to free the Realms from Chaos holds. It has the Stormcast Eternals (which we've seen), the Duardin (new dwarfs), Red Slayers (mercenary dwarf slayers that fight for Order when paid well, but not above fighting for others), Aelf (all 3 old elf armies mixed into one) and the Seraphon (the new Lizardman army).
Chaos is, of course, the alliance that currently holds eight of the Realms and are all followers of the Chaos Gods. They feature the various mortal armies that follow the Chaos gods (the Khorne Goretide being an example) along with their mutations and monsters, the Brayherds (your new Beastmen armies) the Ratmen (the Skaven are Chaos now), and the Daemon hosts (your daemon armies).
Death is ruled over by Nagash, and he is attempting to be the ruler of all the Realms himself. He has usurped all the guardians and deities of the afterlife, and claims all those souls that are dead. All your undead units now one, they don't call out specific armies outside of the Soulblight Vampires (the old Vampire Counts).
Destruction is an alliance in the loosest of terms. While they all fight for the common goal of loving the fight, they aren't opposed to warring with one another. These are your Orruks (the Orcs), Grots (the Goblins), and Ogors (the Ogres). They fight everything (including one another) simply because they can and enjoy it.
The final page has the pre-order list of the new stuff coming out and a hint at what's to come next week: The Realmgate Wars Begin, Who Will Shut the Gate of Wrath, and Plauge in the Heart of Ghyran. These are all titled below a picture of Nurgle armies and the tree folk.
Overall, this is a fantastic issue to sell Age of Sigmar. It sets up the entire story of what is about to happen and is a direct lead-in to the Starter Set, both on a gaming and fluff level. If anyone is one the fence about the game, $4 gives you a preview of the setting and the full rules. Also, you get a new model so you can see for yourself what the look of the models will be going forward. This is a totally worth the price tag and gets me hungry for more lore and where exactly the story is going.
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