Tabletop Review: White Dwarf, Issue #84 (Warhammer: Age of Sigmar/ Warhammer: The End Times/ Warhammer 40,000)

White Dwarf, Issue #84
Publisher: Games Workshop
Cost: $3.99 (Physical)/$2.99 (Digital)
Page Count: 32
Release Date: 09/05/2015
Get it Here: The Black Library (Or your local Games Workshop dealer)

It’s Labour Day Weekend and yet, the Summer of Sigmar continues. Until the leaked information about the Prosecutors and the flying Knights came out, I was think that 40K players would get something new to purchase this week. Apparently not. That said, this shows just how serious Games Workshop is about pushing the Age of Sigmar. Hopefully this will continue with the other armies and not just the Stormcast Eternals. As I prefer Fantasy to 40,000, I’m pretty okay with this – especially since I remember when we’d go months with only 40K releases. Still, I feel bad for people wanting some new Tau or Tyranid pieces. Now, let’s take a look and see what’s in this issue.

“The Host Descends” is our starter article, talking about all the new winged options for the Stormcast Eternals. From there we go into the sales pitches for each of the new pieces. Now, if you purchased the Age of Sigmar boxed set, then you already have three prosecutors. These new releases lets you have access to customizable ones to expand your army. The boxed set of three Prosecutors comes first. You get a LOT of fluff about these warriors, which is always great to see. You are also shown the variants that can be made, which involve letting them wield hammers or javelins and shields. I prefer the latter, but if only because I like the combo of ranged attacks and flying. You can also make a Prosecutor Prime that has a choice of the two-handed weapons other Stormcast Eternal leaders can use. They’re interesting, but I don’t think I can justify purchasing three of these for $60. My plans are to paint my current three Prosecutors as Jetfire, Powerglide and Swoop with the Celestant Prime being Predaking (I was going to do Superion but that Lionhead chest…). I ended up getting the boxed set, I’d probably change that to painting five up as Aerialbots and the sixth as Powerglide with the next two figures as Swoop and Jetfire.

Behold the Knight-Azyros. Like the Prosecutors, these are winged warriors. Like the Lord Castellant, this one comes with a lantern. It’s a gorgeous figures but you’ll have to pay $40 for it. Similarly there is the Knight-Venator which is a combination of Prosecutor and Judicator. The Knight-Venator has a bow which makes this my favorite of this week’s releases. Remember, flying + ranged combat = something I like. The bird (Sorry, STAR EAGLE) that this knight comes with makes it all the better. The Knight Venator is definitely a piece I want to add to my collection. The Star Eagle will get painted up as Sky Lynx. Again, expect to fork over $40 for this figure as it is the same kit as the Knight-Azyros.

Other releases this week include upgrade packs. These are bits to add to kits in order to make specific figures. We’ve seen this with everything from Dark Angels to Night Lords. Essentially you pay a “little” extra so that your figures can have canonic markings for the army you want to be. In this case we have the Knights Excelsior and Celestial Warbringers, who have their own special shields and shoulder pads. I don’t get why anyone would want to do this but, hey. Do you really need to buy these bits? Of course not. It’s just a cash grab towards the anal retentive.

Next up is our first Army book/Codex for Age of Sigmar. It’s no surprise that the book is for the Stormcast Eternals. Order Battletome: Stormcast Eternals is priced about the same as previous books for GW armies. It’s a bit strange as you can get all the Warscrolls for free via online, the Age of Sigmar mobile app and the like. So you’re mostly buying this for the fluff and photos. I like my own Stormcast Eternals army, but it in no way jibes with the actual Age of Sigmar canon. The book looks neat, but I’m very hesitant to purchase any of the book releases for Age of Sigmar after the first Campaign Book was extremely overpriced and underwhelming. There is also a very expensive limited edition version of the book which nets you a special cover, slipcase and some prints. I’ve never understood the limited release options, but it is there for those that want to pay twice the regular price.

The final three releases are not Age of Sigmar based. There are two 40K fiction releases. Ahriman: Unchanged is the finale of that trilogy and Ahriman: Exodux is a collection of Ahriman short stories. Finally we have a preview for Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide. This first person shooter for the PC, Xbox One and PS4 is something I’ve been excited for…and I hate first person shooters. This will be the one and only video game for The End Times and you pit your character (one of five choices) against hordes of Skaven. I’ll try the Dwarf Ranger first, but I’m also excited to play as a Witch Hunter and a Bright Wizard. I’m sad there are no Bretonnian or Lizardman options though. You can play with up to three friends and if this is HALF as good as the Mordheim, you are in for a treat.

So now that we are done with the new releases, which take up a third of this week’s issue, we can move on to other article. First up is “Summoning the Stormhost” which is a look at the Stormcast Eternals. I think GW might be overpushing these guys to the point where people get sick of them ala John Cena but they NEED to make sure this line sells. Only time will tell if only focusing on this new army is the way to go. “Summoning the Stormhost” is essentially a recap of all the Stormcast Eternals you can purchase. It’s a very heavy sales article, rather than anything of substance, which disappointed me greatly. No substance but a lot of box art.

“Forge World” looks at the Ultramarines Invictarus Suzerain Squad, which is a mouthful. These figures look fantastic, the shields especially. These would be a fantastic edition to anyone’s FW collection. Remember it’s free shipping from FW until the end of the month.

“Battleplan: Martial Contest” is a narrative battle for the Stormcast Eternal army. One player must be the Stormcast Eternals with a Celestant-Prime as the leader. The other player can be whoever. Each general gets a special ability as well as a blessing for every five models they kill. It’s always neat to get more Battleplans for Age of Sigmar, but remember you need the Celestant-Prime to play this one.

“Sprues and Glue” looks at the new upgrade packs this week. There are several pictures showing how a unpainted figure will look once you’ve replaced old parts with the upgrade parts, but it would have been more helpful to show how they come together or a step-by-step look at how to mod the figures. That would be fantastic for new gamers, which is who Games Workshop is trying to reach with Age of Sigmar.

Armies on Parade 2015 continues to look at pieces people are putting together for this year’s pageant. There’s a Chaos Warshrine with Gutrot Sprume mounting it, a Nemesis Dreadknight, and some Kastelan Robots. Fun stuff.

This week’s “Warscrolls” looks at the Prosecutors. You have one for those with hammers and one with those who use javelins and shields. Again, go Javelins and Shields, for they have better stats and a tactical advantage, There’s also one for the Knight-Azyros also has a warscroll and much like you could probably tell from the model, its stats are a mix of Prosecutor and Lord Castellant. Finally, we have a scroll for the Knight-Venator, which is the figure I was most interested in. The Venator’s Realmhunter’s Bow is amazing, only needing a 2+ to hit! The Star-Eagle’s stats make this model even better and a must-own for me. You’ll be able to view the full stat blocks in your own issue of White Dwarf, online or via the Age of Sigmar app. Definitely take a look at these since each figure is pretty awesome.

This brings us to “This Week in White Dwarf” and the menagerie of sidebars and blurbs which it entails. There’s a look at the Harbinger Chamber battalion and a tease of other Battalions which you’ll find in the new Order Battletome. There’s soime fluff about Prosecutor weaponry, the usual model/bit/weapon (actually Instrument this time around!) of the week and a look at the lanterns certain Stormcast Eternals use. Things end with a question about what happened to Slaanesh in Age of Sigmar, a look at various Realmsgates and finally a look at someone’s Death Company for Armies on Parade. That’s your White Dwarf for the week. It’s a pretty great issue for Stormcast Eternal fans and there is yet another piece I want for my army, but if you’re a 40K player, you can easily pass on this issue as there is nothing for you here.

Comments

2 responses to “Tabletop Review: White Dwarf, Issue #84 (Warhammer: Age of Sigmar/ Warhammer: The End Times/ Warhammer 40,000)”

  1. goreshade Avatar
    goreshade

    Not that it justifies the cost but I believe the Stormcast Battletome will give you a few battalions and battle plans that you can’t get for free on the app.

    1. Alexander Lucard Avatar
      Alexander Lucard

      It does indeed. Still not worth the cover price to me.

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