Wave your magic stave and chant with me, “izzy, whizzy, lets get busy” as we take a look at a very special issue today. Issue 5 of Warhammer Age of Sigmar Mortal Realms comes with the exclusive Xandria Azurebolt, a model only available in this partworks collection. Check it out after the jump.
This review covers the fifth issue that was released in Warhammer stores, newsagents and supermarkets in the UK. This issue was available to buy between 12th – 19th February. Back issues are available on Hatchette Partworks website at the time of writing. This is UK only at the moment.
Mortal Realms is a weekly Magazine which can include models, paints, pullouts and gaming accessories. It gives hobbyists everything they need to collect, paint and play Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. It’s great for new starters or hobbyists who have been collecting for a while.
The fifth issue is priced at £7.99 and includes 1 Citadel Miniature, a 6 page pullout and athe magazine, it’s all supplied in a plastic see-through bag.
The 6 page pullout is beautifully designed and wouldn’t look out of place in a battletome or rulebook. The art is glorious and depicts Azyr, the Realm of Heavens. The reverse includes information on Azyrheim which is the greatest city in the Mortal Realms.
The star of the show has to be Knight Incantor miniature. It’s 8 pieces plus a 40mm base. There are no alternative options on the sprue which is a shame, I’d like to have had a helmeted head or a sword hand but these are easy things to swap out and kit bash. Because this is a limited edition model it’s hard to price. Games Workshop do sell a start collecting magazine for £5 which also includes a Knight Incantor or Games Workshop sell Stormsire’s Cursebreakersfor £15 which is a Knight Incantor and two Evocators. However models like the Knight Questor or the Knight Heraldor do retail for £17.50.
Opening the publication we’re greeted with the contents which shows us we get the usual format of four background articles, an assembly article, a painting guide and a gaming mission.The editor’s notes are informative, they state this is the first model that will require plastic glue and subscribers would have received the glue in their first delivery. Previous issues had Easy to Build models which are push fit.
The four background articles are: Magic in the Mortal Realms, Knights-Incantors, Xandria Azurebolt and Wars of the Dead. The first article tells you about the 8 winds of magic. Knights-Incantors is a short piece about these warrior mystics and their wargear. Xandria Azurebolt is a wonderful two pager containing brand new information and art on this special character. Wars of the Dead tells of how Nagash reclaimed Shyish from Chaos at the dawn of the Age of Sigmar.
The How to Build Xandria Azurebolt gives you two pages of information. This includes using plastic glue tips and advice. It doesn’t mention cleaning the mouldlines from the models. If you are a subscriber your first delivery would have included a small piece of metal You can use this to gently scrape away the mouldlines on the model parts. If you find the small piece of metal fiddly to use I make and sell a handle you might be interested in.
The painting guide is just two pages and it pretty much just recaps what previous issues have said. You’re just painting the miniature gold in three thinned coats. Don’t copy the person in the above picture. Nobody holds the brush in the middle. Hold it further up towards the bristles like a pen you’ll have more control.
‘Knight-Incantor leads the way’ is the title of this week’s gaming section and gives you a whopping 8 pages of rules and instructions to play through using Xandria from this week’s issue to fight ten Chainrasps from issue 1. Seems like an unfair fight but don’t worry the Sacrosanct warrior has 5 wounds and can hurl Arcane Bolts from afar decimating multiple foes if she get high enough rolls.
The back cover reconfirms the Thorns of the Briar Queen are coming next in issue 6 and issue 7 looks like the first issue where we don’t get models as it’s just two paints. Reikland Fleshshade is £4.75 and Stormhost Silver is £3.70, which is £8.75 in total.
Back to the magical Issue 5 though, once you get over the excitement of the awesome miniature the rest of the inclusions are actually pretty good. The pull out is great, Xandria’s two pager is fantastic with new info and art. Another standout is the gaming section which really moves things along with exciting rules for magic.
Overall a really enjoyable issue.