Starting today, we’ll be taking a look at each faction in Warhammer Age of Sigmar to see how they play in the new edition. For seasoned campaigners, these articles will cover how your units will fight in the new edition, with insight from our expert playtesters. If you’re new to the hobby or looking to start a new army, we’ll hopefully help you decide which army to collect.
Today we’re looking at the Stormcast Eternals. These shining warriors of the God-King Sigmar are forged in the Heavenly realm of Azyr and cast into battle on bolts of lightning. Upon arrival, they proceed to hit things with extremely large hammers. Let’s find out more.
Who Are the Stormcast Eternals?
Stormcast Eternals are created from the souls of fallen soldiers, Reforged by the god Sigmar into living weapons. Their faith, the quality of their weapons and sigmarite armour – and their ability to return to Azyr for Reforging upon death – makes them a mighty force in the Mortal Realms.
Sigmar’s chosen are as varied as the Realms themselves. The God-King only chooses souls with the strength and determination to further his cause, and there’s a wealth of Black Library fiction to enjoy covering their backstories and heroic deeds in service of Sigmar. Of course, you can always create your own Stormcast Chamber and create stories of your own.
In battle, the Stormcast Eternals have always been a versatile army, and the addition of new units over time has allowed them to cater to an even wider variety of play styles. Their infantry troops are stoic and hard to shift, their heavy hitters ride fanged Dracoths and mighty Stardrakes, and Sigmar grants their Wizards the power to call down meteors. What’s more, they’re a joy to collect, and they look fantastic on the table.
The rules in the Dominion box add a new allegiance ability for the Stormcast, representing their heroic sacrifice and their explosive return to heavens.
The new edition of the game brings some changes to the way they play, and we reached out to one of our playtesters and regular Metawatch contributor Chuck Moore for some expert advice on using them in your games. He’s a longtime competitive Warhammer Age of Sigmar player, and the new edition has rekindled his interest in Sigmar’s champions.
Chuck: Stormcast Eternals are an army that work best in small units of five models. In the new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, the rules for unit coherency have been updated, and Stormcast Eternals are primed to take full advantage of these changes.
A table size of 44” by 60” is recommended for armies ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 points. The Stormcasts’ larger base size and ability to spread out and control board space on the new size of battlefield is very much a boon.
Sigmar’s champions will be able to easily bring their full strength to bear when piling in or removing casualties due to their power being packed into a small unit size.
Another key aspect of the Stormcast Eternals is their selection of mighty Heroes capable of inspiring nearby units with powerful buffing abilities – and they’re no slouches in combat either.
A great example of a character designed to take advantage of the new rules is the Lord-Imperatant. We know there will be lots more command points flying round, but this guy gets to issue a command every turn for free, on top of a host of other useful abilities – check it out.
Chuck: The new Heroic Action abilities only improve the utility and usefulness of the many Stormcast Heroes. I’m also a big fan of Heroes on Stardrakes since monsters play a bigger part on the battlefield in the new edition. As a Hero and a monster, these huge beasts get all sorts of new tricks to try out.
Biggest Winners
The updated rules in the Core Book have subtle but powerful effects on existing units. We asked Chuck to pick out three Stormcast Eternals units that enjoy a nice boost from the new edition.
Retributors
Chuck: Retributors have been a punishing unit ever since Sigmar unleashed them upon the Mortal Realms, and are set to make a strong impact in the new edition. The new board size means their prodigious damage output will be in range of the enemy faster than ever before, giving you even more opportunity to strike hard with their lightning hammers.
Judicators
Judicators with Skybolt Bows are a staple of most Stormcast Eternals armies, and this isn’t likely to change in the new edition. Their ability to deal quality damage at range is a great way to soften up your enemy before your slower-moving foot troops finish them off in melee.
Knight-Vexillor
The ability to re-roll charges for nearby units will be handy, as you’re more likely to be rolling to charge in earlier Battle Rounds with the new board size. The Pennant of the Stormbringer is also a great way to help reposition your slower-moving units, like Retributors, to secure your victory.
Thanks so much for your insight, Chuck.
If you like the idea of elite units with great base stats, powerful heroes that grant helpful boons, and a wide variety of units to choose from, the Stormcast Eternals are for you. They’re versatile, tough, hard-hitting, and can be tailored to your play style in a number of different ways.
You don’t have to wait for Dominion to come out to get started. The Start Collecting! Stormcast Eternals Thunderstrike Brotherhood box includes a great mix of units that will come in handy no matter how you plan to build up your army.