Age of Sigmar: Initial Impressions of the Miniatures

The Age of Sigmar begins.

Warhammer Fantasy has seen a slow but steady demise since the release of 8th edition back in 2010. Although they released revised rules for most of the armies in the new edition, they tended to be sparsely updated versions of their previous books, to bring them inline with the ill-favored new rule set.  Interestingly, it took GW destroying everything in the setting through the End Times to renew people's’ interest in Warhammer (admittedly, I think the increased interest had more to do with them finally releasing truly exciting models and remaking old classics, accompanied with new interesting background and artwork, rather than the fact that things were ending, but I digress). Although people were excited about End Times, it inherently left fans uncertain what was going to happen to their beloved game, and we have all been in an uneasy limbo since the Warhammer world ended, waiting to see where Games Workshop would go. After months of vague rumors and unsatisfying teases from GW, pictures of their new game Age of Sigmar have finally leaked across the internet (thanks Lady Atia!).  While these pictures have left more questions than provided answers, they are quite striking, and I wanted to talk a little about my impression of the new models and the direction their design seems to be going.

Codex Dark Angels: A look at the Artwork

Proof that if GW wants evocative artwork, they can find artists to create it.

As a long time Deathwing player, I was extremely excited to see a new Dark Angels codex release, and purchased the digital version immediately.  Although I was excited to see the new rules, what I was most looking forward to was seeing the new artwork.  Codex releases have always been one of my favorite aspects of the hobby because they are the primary means that Games Workshop release new artwork to further the grim imagery the whole universe is founded upon.  Unfortunately, in recent years, the artwork has taken somewhat of a back seat. Games Workshop no longer credits the artists, and they often resort to coloring older artwork (often times rather poorly) rather than commissioning new material.  Despite this, I was still excited to see what new art would be in the new Dark Angels codex.  All of my hopes were shattered upon looking at the new book.  I dare say the book may contain some of the worst pieces of artwork that Games Workshop has ever released. Instead of writing too much about how the art has changed, I decided to show a few images comparing some of the old and new artwork. After all, a picture is worth a thousands words, right?

INQ28: Painting Beltran Destrieux

We are all but a weapon in the right hand of the Emperor.

The release of the Skitarii Rangers was an exciting time for the Inq28 community, giving a wealth of excellent conversion opportunities (and finally some plastic Adeptus Mechanicus models!). They where also the perfect models to base Lucanus Molnár’s first companion, Beltran Destrieux, a soldier in one of Stygies VIII Explorator Fleets. Having finished all the conversion work on the model, the next step was to devise a color scheme and then get to painting him. The backstory that Eric and I created proved a good place to start. Thankfully we were able to find Stygies VIII color scheme in the Skitarii codex. Unsurprisingly, it had a major emphasis on red (Hail Mars!), with all of the armor being a deep crimson. Unlike the other Forge Worlds, it also had a large amount of black, with all their coats and robes sable.

Unboxing: Tech-Priest Dominus

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Although the Skitarii release was a very strong one, with a host of excellent models, I could not help but feel a letdown when it was confirmed that there would be no HQ choice in the codex.  This was a shame because with an army themed around esoteric, archaic technology and ritual, there certainly is not a shortage of ideas for creating exciting character models.  When rumors about the Cult Mechanicus started to circulate, however, I was pleased to hear that they were going to correct this, by releasing an HQ choice in the form of the Tech-Priest Dominus.  And after seeing pictures of the model, I think it was worth the wait, and think that the Dominus may be the best Adeptus Mechanicus model that GW has released. These are words I do not use lightly, considering the excellent Rangers, Sicarians, and Kataphron servitors.  I got the Dominus as soon as I could, and having assembled him, wanted to let everyone know what I think about the model, both aesthetically, and in terms of ease of assembly and quality.