Mighty Dracoth Are Riding Into Battle For Age Of Sigmar
March 8, 2016 by brennon
A new selection of Stormcast Eternal models are coming to the webstore from Games Workshop for Age of Sigmar. You can see the whole host of Dracoth riding Stormcast and another character, the Knight-Heraldor, HERE who have as always received a mixed reception...
Before now we'd only see the Dracoth being ridden by the Lord Celestant within the Age of Sigmar Starter Set. They are now a vital part of the Stormcast Eternal war effort and they now have a cavalry option. It seems like the variants are...
- Tempestors (Crossbows)
- Fulminators (Glaives/Spears)
- Desolators (Axes)
- Concussors (Hammers)
There is also another Lord Celestant model which isn't quite as dynamic as the one from the main game and the Knight Heraldor who will be calling in the troops and marshalling them for battle.
I don't mind these new models but they look a little bit too cartoony for my liking. Also, the fast option for the Stormcast Eternal was their angelic horde and now they have added another option to their range; it doesn't really make much sense in my mind.
Images From War Of Sigmar
What do you think?
"They are now a vital part of the Stormcast Eternal war effort and they now have a cavalry option..."
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
I don’t mind em’. I think the whole Stormcast Eternal aesthetic is either one you love or absolutely hate. I wouldn’t paint the armour gold though if I was painting Stormcast I would probably opt for something like Vallejo black red.
I’ve gone for a cream/off white with blue and silver and it looks neat. Makes them look almost like animated statues.
I totally agree on the aesthetic but I think the big thing is here is that the ‘cool’ selling point for the Stormcast was that their fast element was freckin’ angels – and now it’s also dragons?
Seems to me like they could have done more with the flying aspect of things – they might be getting a proper dragon soon though so we’ll see I guess.
I’m sure that if your tastes run to the fevered Red Bull-fueled dreams of an 80s action figure designer then these are great.
As I read the army composition @Brennon, I think the point is that the fast scout/harassment option is represented by the likes of the Prosecutors and the Knights Venator, whereas the Dracothian Guard are more intended as full on line breakers – heavy shock cavalry intended to smash through shield walls, kill big stuff, and make a real mess of massed infantry formations. A clue is in the weaponry – the Dracothian Guard carry the pretty rocking Paladin weapons (Lighting Hammers, Stormstrike Glaives, Thunder Axes) and this new type of Crossbow that seems to throw out a high rate of… Read more »
“kill big stuff” isn’t that also the role of the normal Sigmarines given their rules lolol
As if there is anything intentional about the rules for these models. As if there is anything serious about them other than “make the model look cool, we’ll make up the rules later” < which is literally what they do btw.
I don’t love them or hate them, I’m completely apathetic to them in all honesty. The models are nice, I like the fella holding the lantern but then again I much prefer a puny human infantryman taking on the odds. Somebody that is visibly mortal as opposed to the tarted up, blinged out NFL linebacker with a hammer. Space Marines are great, I have plenty of them but I never asked for them in fantasy, in that regard I suppose I do resent them… Nice models, all the same. I just wish they weren’t created at the expense of something… Read more »
Battle Cats, sir, thousands of them!
I actually kinda like them. I wouldn’t paint them gold either. I like the idea of black or dark gray as the main color.
I don’t think GW can resist the urge to have a force without a mounted cavalry option. The thing with the Stormcast Eternal aesthetic is it’s quite simple, it’s very easy to teach the next generation to build and paint with the Stormcast Eternal. A cream coloured armour would be interesting you still retain the grandeur heroic look without going into a gold frenzy.
It would have been nice to have the front plate on the Dracoth as optional I think without would look better.
I hope all factions get a mounted option. I remember when Skaven first came out, and in the pictures of the White Drawf, it had a Skaven mounted on a Rat Ogre.
So if Skaven end up getting a bunch of little guys mounted on Rat Ogres, I’m all for it.
Gamesworkshop continue to beclown themselves.
If 40K is loved for its grim darlness then why have GW framed AoS clearly as a cartoon kidfest as opposed drawing kids in with the grim adult-nature of it all.
I thought that Sigmarines could not get sillier than they already were but GW proved me wrong.
Stop it GW, it was funny at first but it’s got out of hand.
http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/4/49448/3399425-he-man_l09.jpg
Yup, Battle Cats.
lol! But He-Man’s awesome
They are very similar to the Lord Celestant model on Dracoth that came in the 2 player starter and looking at that on sprue right now it looks great. Easily one of the best miniatures in the starter.
Each kit will also have parts to make one of the models into a Lord Celestant now with different weapon options. Also the previously released upgrade kits with shoulder pads and shields are fully compatible with this kit.
I don’t mind them, pretty much what I expected.
A little outlandish but sculpt wise I’d take these over the elf cav just released by Mantic as far as quality goes.
Saying that I can only imagine how many mantic cav models you could get for the price of a set of the stormcast cav 🙂
Exactly. Mantic aren’t trying to offer a premium product at a premium price, so it’s not exactly fair to judge them for not producing premium quality minis.
Fair point.
Quality will always win out over quantity for myself, though I’m sure my bank manager would prefer it if it wasn’t so 😉
Sure, you pays your money, you takes your choice. I also like a premium quality mini and will throw lots of money at the likes of the Twisted campaign currently on KS. These seem to my eyes like a premium price for an ugly action figure. Just to head off any potential accusations of being a hater, I think GW have done some outstanding work on the Deathwatch Overkill and Adeptus Mechanicus minis.
Don’t think you’re a hater matey, I’ve seen you throw praise and disbelief in equal measures at GW.
Like the original poster said I think the Stormcast are miniature marmite.
I actually like them, no accounting for taste I guess.
I agree with what you’re saying here Redben. I thought the Deathwatch Overkill miniatures were a perfect example of how good GW can be.
These don’t do anything for me and my first thought was He-Man. I continue to have no interest in the AoS range as it stands, but perhaps the Aelfs will be useable when they turn up. Maybe.
“are miniature marmite.”
I think, the slightly stupid “LIGHTING OMG” imagery aside the Stormcast are just knights in extra full plate armour. I thought the great draw of Warhammer was that it was regular humans like you or me, with a spear or crude handgun VS a fully armoued Chaos Warrior – that was the glory of Warhammer, but apparently Chaos Warriors needed literally an equal thought GW as that’s more appealing?
But the actual Stormcast, as I said, are just knights in armour at the end of the day – it’s the MOUNTS that are causing issues.
I don’t think anyone is under any allusions as to what GW are going for with the Sigmarites, hence their nickname of Sigmarines. Whether it’s a good strategy or not, as @poosh says, the issue here is more with the action figure mounts.
You aren’t a hater @Reben, you are just reacting to GW’s tendency to be stylistically all over the place, and many of those styles are real marmite propositions – you either love them or hate them. As a result, GW produces a lot of stuff that only appeals to a subset of gamers, and leaves everyone else scratching their heads, and only sometimes produces stuff that almost everyone loves. As a result, when they hit it big they hit it really big, but when they produce stuff that is more out there it tends to leave a lot of people… Read more »
I said to a friend when the Stormcast came out they were missing a form of cavalry, these are awesome!
I like them in of themselves, just like the rest of the Sigmarines. I mean, they’re alright. Pretty safe sculpting style for GW. Space Marines but not! That said, I’ve no desire to collect them at the prices they ask. Bring back the puny humans with nothing but a short sword, shield or spear. Bring back the horse mounted cavalry. Far more engaging as far as I’m concerned. This sigmar stuff is just a bit too abstract for me. My last hope now is that the specialist games studio bring back Mordheim in some for or another and have updated… Read more »
The Warhammer World fluff has so much yet to be explained – so many hints of “strange things in the mountains” and ancient forces that have yet to be displayed. It had such scope and GW should have invested in bringing out models that way – not AoS which is increasingly becoming a parody of a miniature war game.
I suspect the average gamer – especially young – wants to avoid the stigma that he or she is just “collecting toys”. They *need* the adult themes.
Is there anything adult at all about AoS though? Honest question. I’ve not looked into it very much, strikes me as being akin to a saturday morning cartoon or japanese anime where you have these giant, abstract golden… guys (monoliths?) going at it with other, exaggerated roid heads (achne,,, in the form of skulls an’ all!) through these portals because… well, just because? Why are they fighting? For food? To ransack a village? Desecrate a temple? No, apparently it’s to capture a planet or a realm or some such. Hah. I sound like I’m bashing it all, I’m not. I… Read more »
I find the fluff to be quite adult and interesting. There are humans around except that any that didn’t escape into Azyr were trapped and have to survive the hordes of cannibal blood reavers. Join or be consumed bassically. The Sigmarites are actually humanoid behind their masks each with their own story for wanting vengeance or justice. In the rule/scenario book there are Priests of Sigmar and Flagellants models fighting along side the Sigmarites.
I still think that we will see more mundane human factions as the AoS setting unfolds @dice. More likely than not the bulk of the human aligned armies, at least as described in the lore we currently have access to, will be desperately out classed mortals taking on scary lethal Chaos types with whatever they can muster. Judging from the fluff we have seen so far, the odds will be stacked against the plucky ordinary humans in many cases as a result (fighting unnatural demonic abominations and psychotic murderers imbued will the power of evil gods is probably bad for… Read more »
I much prefer your take on things vetruviangeek! I really hope it all pans out as you describe. You’re absolutely correct that AoS is in an embryonic state and I do need to be reminded of that occasionally but as it stands, It holds no interest to me at the moment. Which sucks mainly because I was such a fan of ‘Ye olde Worlde’! 😀
I keep saying that GW should listen to me, but do they call? No. Do they write? No. Do they pay me a proportion of their profits (I am not greedy; a nice round 10% will do. That is 10% gross, not net, GW, just so we’re clear…)? No. This is what happens when they inexplicably refuse to do the obvious… 😉 I also really like the Old World @dice. Here’s hoping that the huge gamble GW took by moving forward with the timeline ultimately pays off. It would be a tad embarrassing if the forthcoming Total War: Warhammer game… Read more »
2 units of 6 each for me. Maybe another set for to make 2 weapon variants of a Lord Celestant. Not sure what armaments I’ll be going with though. Probably hammers and glaives. Might get the new Herald variant too.
I couldn’t care less what someone else thinks about the miniatures I purchase therefore there isn’t any stigma involved and this should be the absolute norm for everyone.
Rules for the Lord Celestant on Dracoth and the four types of Darcothian Guard have leaked, and they are all pretty nasty, especially the Fulminators and the Desolators (the Desolators get really heavy damage output if their unit is large enough).
Here is a link to War of Sigmar:-
https://war-of-sigmar.herokuapp.com/bloggings/526
Oh Desolators are nasty in a unit of six. I think the glaives are great too as out of combat they get a 2+ save and if you roll a 1 you get to re-roll it anyway.
The chaps with the hammers are pretty brutal with that stun.
Concussors could certainly ruin the day of a unit with proper use of attack sequences. They also get a bonus Mortal Wound with each roll of a six to hit, rather than turning the normal wounds into Mortal Wounds like Retributor Lightning hammers do, so they even have a slight buff to damage output against most opponents.
Fulminators, really … had an extra laugh at that name seeing as “Ful” means ugly in swedish 😛
are they meant to be their answer to the dark elf lizard riders?
Good grief. Is this now the best GW can do? They look just like all the other action figures they’ve produced recently, and have that same ‘hide-the-bad-design-with-clutter’ theme.
Makes me sad to watch GW progressively fall behind the pack like this. I have enough older, better stuff to last a lifetime, but I still keep hoping they’ll turn around. Why can’t they hire the same quality of artists that they employ for their books?
seeing as they produce boardgames now (miniature luxury packs), they might as well also hire some more game designers and get back on that track as well.
I’m so glad I jumped off the GW ship many years ago, other companies are making just better fantasy war games now. It’s great to see the little guys getting bigger now and better. Cheers!
Haven’t we seen that horn blower miniature before? I swear he looks familiar… As for the dragon knights themselves, the mounts just look sloppy. They are fat, way too broad across the chest, and their legs/ankles just look… blegh. Like, someone lumped clay together and only gave it a once over with a sculpting tool to pick out some fat cankles and toes. Really disappointing to see the lack of focus on other armies continue. The Skaven just get a ‘release’ which contains nothing more than a new book and some round bases, while again the Sigmarines get a host… Read more »
It’s a newer sculpt. The other one looked weird even for someone like myself which loves this faction.
I don’t mind the new models. I just wish the mounts were a bit more dynamic (running, jumping, etc). The Varanguard models they released the other month look much better.
New unit that is 1+, I don’t believe it, and that from GW? !
I yet again admire the workmanship in the kit , GW are supreme in that respect – but I ain’t going to shell out on them.
Why people keep this “sigmar is for children” is beyond me.
After all, it’s all about plastic soldiers.
Adult don’t need “big bad toys” to feel like they re more mature.
Kids do.
Adults are pretty assured of their maturity and don’t need toys to feel like “big men”.
Well, that’s just it. Kids want Space Marines riding dragons. Adults generally don’t. Of course there are exceptions and nobody should be judged for their personal taste, but that’s where the impression that Sigmar is marketed towards a younger demographic comes from. I know that at least from my own experience, as a youngster I thought the Empire in Warhammer Fantasy was the worst of the factions. A bunch of lame dudes in frilly pants? No thanks. I’ll take dragons, elves, ogres, etc. etc. As I grew older, I fell in love with the somewhat fantastical realism of the Empire… Read more »
Though I’m ambivalent about the new setting and uninterested in what I’ve seen of the new rules, I liked the starter set a lot. These dragon rider things don’t look anywhere near as cool as the one in the starter set though. Not quite sure why…
IMO, I can’t really be playing a fantasy game and say dragons are for children.
That said, I’m 39 and my sigmar armies are stormcast and orcs.