In less than two weeks’ time, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar 3rd Edition will be going up on pre-order. Two weeks after that it will be out, and we will all be able to experience the joy of grim dark fantasy warfare in the Mortal Realms. As you will all probably know, this year I’ve been preparing for this new edition as my entry point into playing AoS. I’ve been building up some armies so that when the new rules finally hit the shelves, I’ll be ready to get stuck right in. Not only that, but I’m bring my children along for the ride, teaching them the joys of tabletop wargaming now they are starting to show a real interest in the hobby.
So before the new edition gets here, I’m going to share with you the armies I have built in preparation for the new saga’s of the Mortal Realms, as well as the plans for future 3rd Edition content for the site. So, let’s not waste any more time and get right to it.
For Sigmar
As you will undoubtable know if you have been following our Hobby Workshop series, I recently painted 2,000 points of Stormcast Eternals in the style of an army of stone golems. Painted as part of a goal to get two armies ready to play with my children (don’t worry, we’ll get to the other one later) I ended up getting them finished rather quickly compared to other projects I have undertaken in the past. This was partly due to the concept style I decided to paint them in, and as a result it didn’t take too long until I had a legal and fully painted (if possible underpowered) force of stone constructs ready to smash face with.
This doesn’t mean that I am completely finished with the army, far from it. I already have plans to add some Evocators to my collection, and possibly some other member of the Sacrosanct Chamber to keep Averon Stormsire company. However, I’m not 100% sure I’ll be adding the new Thunderstrike Stormcasts to the ranks of stone golems. Don’t get me wrong, the miniatures are beautiful and I definitely want to get my hands on some. But the backstory I built up for these automatons means that I’m wanting to keep them looking older and more outdated, and adding new-fangled tech to the army would spoil that aesthetic. Maybe I’ll end up adding the newer Stormcasts to another force, possible a small Cities of Sigmar force should the 1 in 4 rule remains in effect.
As for that backstory I mentioned, this force of “Stone”cast Eternals are the magical infused automata that guard a previously undiscovered Stormvault. Crafted to resemble the might Stormcast Eternals, these statues are roused from their slumber should the vaults seal be broken, at which point they will fight off any malignant force that seek to capture the hidden secrets held within. But why is Gotrek there you might ask? Well, you will have to stay tuned to find out that little secret.
Nurgle Raises
During the first lockdown last year, I started a Nurgle Daemon force for Warhammer 40,000 as a way to keep myself sane while isolating away from my family. I’ve slowly been adding to them over the past year, and currently I am only a few miniatures of completing these vile servants of the plague god. But as we all know, the daemons of chaos can easily pass from world to world and as a result I also have a sizable force of daemonic warriors for the Maggotkin of Nurgle.
Since the points for AoS and 40k are slightly different, I have access to well over 2,000 points for my Maggotkin, even though I am still a little sort on that total for my Chaos Daemons. As a result, I have a few different builds that I can try out when I decide to tackle the Mortal Realms. I can even field them as the more diseased member of the Legion of Chaos Ascendant, and as a result I decided to pick up a Be’lakor to lead this division into battle.
At least that was the plan until Broken Realms; Be’lakor came out with a new, much a larger version of the Dark Prince that is much more in the keeping with such a powerful champion of chaos. Sadly, this meant that my Be’lakor was laughably small compared to his more recent miniature. So this means that my Be’lakor will be demoted to a regular Daemon Prince (I will call him, Mini’Kor). Still, that doesn’t much change the rest of the force, and once I get my last few Plaguebearers finished off I’ll have three units that I can field at maximum strength.
Aside for that I’m not sure what else I’ll be adding to this particular force. I was a bit tempted to add some addition allied forces to the list for some addition flavour, possible including some other daemons from a different god to the mix. I could also go the other way and add addition Nurgle units like Skaven Plague Monks to the mix and make a grand army of disease and sickness. For now though I have other projects to be getting on with, but I expect I’ll return to these gruesome chaps before too long.
Children of Destruction
As I stated earlier, at the same time I started my Stormcast Eternals I also began work on another army. This force was going to be a joint collection that I would share with my children, and as a result I let them decide on which army it should be. In the end they decided on the Gloomspite Gitz, being huge fans of the Troggoths and Squigs the army is known for. I built up a Start Collecting kit, as well as a box of Gitz to take the starting force up to around 500 points. Unfortunately, I ended up getting more than a little distracted with my Stormcasts, and as a result they haven’t really moved on past the undercoated stage.
However, this might have been as it was meant to be, as my children recent asked if they could paint up the army themselves. Previously the intention was for them to pick the colour scheme and have me paint the army up for them. But they really want to have a go at it themselves, and who am I to deny them the joys of painted an army.
So, the new plan is to get the army up to around 1,000 points, split ruffly between the Gitz and the Troggoths, and let my kids paint and control their own halves when we do battle. I even have a ‘leader’ for the Troggoth half of the army already set up, as I already own Mollog from Warhammer Underworlds which will make a nice addition for the force. Now all I have to do is set up a painting session or two after school for them and we will be ready to roll.
The Next Project
So, as it stands I have a few bits to add to my Stormcast and Maggotkin, as well as some painting to do alongside my children. But what do I do after that? Well, we have an army for each of the Grand Alliance except Death. So, it appears my path is laid out in front of me. I will have to brave the land of the dead and complete the cycle as it were.
Now I do have the miniatures from Cursed City that I painted up a few months ago. But I want them to be their own separate thing rather than the start of a new army. Instead, I want to do something that is a little bit more special. I want to build a very personalised and narrative driven force that I can call my own, making heroes and villains that grow and evolve as I play with them. And since we already know that we will be getting a new Path to Glory system in the new rules, it appears I have the perfect vector with which to achieve this goal.
The only question is which army do I go with? Part of me really likes the idea of a Flesh Eater Courts force, as I find the background of the army very interesting (in a grim and depressing way). Another option would be to go with the new hotness and try my hand at Soulblight. After all there is a lot of different playstyles I could go for, with all the different bloodlines on offer. Then again, I do have a ton of Nighthaunt from the Mortal Realms magazine that I have done nothing with, and I really should make an impact on my backlog.
I guess I’ll wait and see what the new rules have in store for us before I make my decision. Either way, expect to see some spooky content coming from the site in the coming weeks and months.
And that will do it for today. As you can probably tell I’m really looking forward to the arrive of Dominion. The new edition has really lit a fire under me as a hobbyist, and I can’t wait to see what the future hold for the Mortal Realms. But what are you looking forward to with Age of Sigmar? Are you going to be starting a new army? Make sure to share your thoughts with us either below in the comments, or over on Twitter @TenguPlaysGames. If you don’t want to miss out on that or any of the other great content we do here at Master of Magics, please like and subscribe to keep up to date.
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