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.

Oh man, Nagash AND Neferata, Mortarch of Blood are on the cover here, replete with their very big bone hats? I bet this issue’s gonna be all about Necromancy, and-

The Narrative Materials

Oh hey Cities of Sigmar, that’s nice. It’s focusing largely on the ones from Aqshy, but there’s my favorite piece of art from the old Battletome here, and it’s of a pile of Sigmarite gear, marked with the heraldry of Greywater Fastness – the very same that I painted above. Said boxout accompanies a description of the various gear these schmucks have to march with, and how a bit of wood, some sharpened steel, and faith in Sigmar are all that stand between your average Sigmarite soldier and the daemon from one of several literal hells standing in front of them. On display here too are heraldy and descriptions for Hammerhal Aqsha, Tempest’s Eye, and Hallowheart. Hammerhal Aqsha is a forge-city where its soldiers are known for their typical Aqshyan temper. Tempest’s Eye is more closely associated with trade and the Kharadron Overlords, so high is it in the mountains. Hallowheart is instead on a spire of basalt, and is built around mines of magic stones. It’s certainly more wizardly than the more typical Aqshian cities before it, and the least archetypical of the lot. There’s definitely more detail on these in the Battletome, but you get the basic theme here.

Next is a bit on Orruk Ardboyz, the smaller varietal of Orruk in an Ironjawz warband. They’re some of the most classic Orcs you’ll find in all of Age of Sigmar; natural successors to the old Black Orc kit they’ve since replaced. Curiously there’s art of a Stegadon here with no context, which is at least moderately confounding. Anyway, let’s roll on the Battle Record:

Dazbad Armcracka gathered his boyz around him – Da Gorewhackas were gathered to the magnetic charisma of their boss, even if the concept of magnetism was completely lost on them. “A one! A two! A… whatever comes next!” started Dazbad, before his Boyz joined the chant. “Sigmar Sigmar why don’t cha ligmar – knob, dat is!”
The defenders of Halsengrad weren’t expecting Orrukish poetry to warn them of the oncoming attack, but rude as it was, it did give them time to formalize their own defense. The Sigmarion Choir Quartet retaliated with their own volley: “Gork and mork, suck a cork you dorks”
And so it continued, on and on.

The Hobby Materials

This week’s models are the newest miniatures in the entirety of Stormbringer – far from early edition starter models or miniatures from nearly 20 years ago, we get the new shiny ‘Ardboyz. These minis dropped in 2023, near the end of 3rd edition, back in the Dawnbringers series. I think they were meant to be the older, reused Warhammer Fantasy Black Orc models, but they went out of production between the beginning of Stormbringer and now. Regardless, this is a hell of a kit, almost serving like an Orruk version of Stormcast Vindictors. The models go together easily, usually being two halves that together make the body and legs, then separate heads, spears, and shields to choose from, all of which are completely interchangeable. I do wish the standard bearer option was more of a literal banner than just a doodad on a guy’s back, but otherwise I think this is a pretty pitch perfect take on the armored Orc aesthetic. The paint guide will get you some good results on these satisfyingly chunky Orruks, though I wish they had a sidebar for freehanding some of the hot rod flames, checks and dags you hope to see on Orc/Ork/Orruk armor. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered.

The Gaming Materials

We’ve got a hefty Core Tactics article that runs us through Heroic Actions this week, but of course 3rd edition rules tutorials aren’t too relevant at this point. There is a handy little guide of a bunch of the heroes we’ve gotten so far though, replete with suggestions for what Heroic Actions, Enhancements, or Command Abilities they might benefit most from.

Instead, we’ll focus on Ambush at Brutestomb Bluff, a battle on the frontiers of Ulgu. Reinforcements for the beleaguered Sigmarite defenders have arrived from Aqshy, and on their route between one outpost and the next, a grot by the name of Gretch Cave-Creepa has decided to ambush them. What follows is a battle over a deep valley, with the Order forces pincered in by their Destruction attackers. This is reflected in the deployment, where Order is boxed into a tiny square surrounded by objectives, while Destruction starts on the short ends of the table. The mission rule doesn’t really make much sense to me – essentially causing D3 mortal wounds as impact hits on any successful charge, but I think the overall mission supports the narrative well enough.

Final Verdict:

It’s $62.50 for a ten-strong regiment of Ardboyz, making this issue’s $13.99 an absolute steal. Paying less than a quarter of retail price for these fairly new models is genuinely nuts, and any Orruk player will likely want a few regiments of them. The rest of the issue is decent; it’s a fun mission and a pretty broad overview of a few Sigmarite cities, giving a smidge of context to the greater setting. It’d be a fine issue with any model kit, but with these Ardboyz included, it gets bumped up to one of the greats.

See you next issue, warhams.

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