Lock and load your Thunderhead Greatbows and let slip the Gryph-hounds of war as we venture back into the Mortal Realms and take a look at issue 3 of The Official Warhammer Age of Sigmar Collection. Check it out after the jump.
This review covers the third issue that was released in Warhammer stores, newsagents and supermarkets in the UK. This issue was available to buy between 29th January – 4th February. Back issues are available on Hatchette Partworks website at the time of writing. This is UK only at the moment. The Warhammer 40,000 Conquest version was rolled out in other territories so there is a good chance the same will happen with Mortal Realms.
Mortal Realms is a weekly Magazine which includes models, paints and gaming accessories. It drip feeds you everything you need to collect, paint and play Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. It’s great for new hobbyists or seasoned veterans.
The third issue is priced at £7.99 which is £2 more than the second issue. This issue didn’t come on a card back, instead the magazine, model sprues, and paint are in a plastic see-through bag.
It includes 3 Castigators, Gryph-hound and a pot of Retributor Armour. The models retail for £9.99 and a pot of which is £3.70 a nice saving of £5.70 overall.
If you want to subscribe then the leaflet above gives you all the information you need including what you get free. Subscribers don’t get charged for delivery and convenient because you’re not hunting in the shops for loose issues. The leaflet explains you will receive four issues every month as a single delivery. It also states you will automatically receive subsequent binders that cost £8.99 each. It also says you will receive special issues of Mortal Realms and will be charged for those unless you opt out beforehand either by telephone of email.
Premium subscribers will be charged £9.99 an issue and they will receive the bonus content pictured above. It’s an extra £2 an issue and you’ll receive a premium box every 20 issues. It works out to be £40 for a couple of boxes of models, paint and the relevant warscrolls.
The magazine itself is 24 pages. The cover features painted Castigators. The inside cover gives you the contents of this issue. The contents can also be used to organise all the magazines later on in the binders. The first section includes information about the Stormhosts and a nice page showing 5 illustrations of different colour schemes. I really liked the scheme for the Stormblood Guard who are said to bleed lightning! The next 2 page section looks at a single Stormhost; the Hammers of Sigmar. These are Sigmar’s first Stormhost.
The following section gives you 2 pages of information on Castigators.No rules in section, it’s just background lore. I didn’t know the heads of the bolts were filled with the breath of Stardrakes which makes them particular destructive against Death or Deamon units.
Even though this is predominately a Stormcast issue, Nighthaunt slip into the magazine with a 2 pager called Nighthaunt Processions. This is really short and just gives you the hierarchy under Nagash. You also get 2 pages on how to assemble your models from this issue.
The 4 page painting guide at it’s core is just about applying three coats of Corax White or Retributor Armour. This is good advice, as it says to apply three thinned (with water) coats to the model applying each after the previous has dried. No mention of using undercoats. If you can afford it, I’d always suggest undercoating with a dedicated primer.
The 6 page gaming section builds upon the previous issues and introduces shooting to the game. It clearly explains the steps you need to do and the dice you need to roll. I wouldn’t call it a game, it’s more of a playthrough to learn the rules. As the publication progresses larger play mats will be supplied allowing for larger games to be played
In fact looking at the back of this publication you can see there is a large battle mat included in issue 4. We also get to see that the Mortal Realms exclusive Xandria Azurebolt miniature is coming in issue 5.
Really good issue this one. The pot of Retributor armour is a great addition because it’s one of the more expensive Citadel paints. I was going to suggest picking up two issues because I thought three Castigators wasn’t a legal unit size in matched play Age of Sigmar games but I’m wrong. I just checked the Battletome and 3 is the minimum number required. However, who doesn’t like firing huge metal bolts with crystal heads filled with dragon breath at the enemy. The more the merrier I say!