Understatement of the century.
An Exploration of the Mortal Realms: An Age of Sigmar Thread
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Nagash's Mortarchs
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The Supreme Lord of Undeath, Nagash, is the self-proclaimed ruler of the Death faction, and for all intents and purposes he is. The Grand Alliance represents his interests and he rules over them with an obsessive iron first, with the only faction providing any resistance being the Flesh Eater Court's madness and delusion. In his eternal quest to impose endless and ceasless Order on the Realms under his control, Nagash needed allies. However, Nagash is not the type of person who does something like "trust". He's only satifsfied when he has complete control. So he made himself servants to match his standards and serve him for eternity. His Mortarchs.
The original Mortarchs are all familiar to those who know Warhammer Fantasy. Neferata, Mannfred, Arkhan and Ushoran. Yes, Ushoran. He came back briefly and was a fairly noble Vampire for all intents and purposes before he rebelled against Nagash and eventually succumbed to madness when he was imprisoned in Nagash's personal prison. His madness became infectious and his prime lietuenants started spreading the "Mordant Curse" of delusion to create courts of their own, spreading it to Ghouls and Horrors and more as they crafted their own courts. Ushoran is still out there after escaping from Nagash's prison.
Aside from Ushora, Mannfred, Neferata and Arkhan are the other Mortarchs, and they are largely the same. Except, you have to wonder why these ambitious (well, not Arkhan, he's loyal) and duplicitous Vampires would serve Nagash so willingly without attempting to backstab him. Well, part of that is that they do have their own plots and agendas, but another is that they're not... real.
"We are him, and he is us. But we were all someone else, once. In us is Nagash's power made manifest. But so too are his weaknesses. Neferata is his guile, Mannfred, his ambition, and I...I am his loyalty – to others, to this realm, to those he claims as his own. What Nagash has claimed, he will hold until time's last gleaming, even if he must destroy it to keep it
~ Arkhan to Tamra ven-Drak."
The Mortarchs from the World-That-Was are not the same people we know. They are figments of Nagash's mind materialised into the Mortal Realms as he saw them. They are a part of Nagash. They do, however, posess some of their own innate characteristics. Mannfred, for example, created a twisted mockery of Sylvania in his alloted territory of Carstinia in Shyish, and even crafted a fascimile of Vlad and Isabella to serve him in his castle. But he eventually grew dispondent and felt something missing, so he abandoned it all in search of something to fill the void he held within him. Neferata continues to scheme for her own goals, and even managed to drag one of her Handmaidens from the World-That-Was (Naaima) into her service again. I have a slight suspicion she likes her a bit more than just a handmaiden. Arkhan is loyal, but even he has his own feelings in regards to Nagash, which are complicated to say the least.
This post does not take Orpheon Katakros and Lady Olynder into account. They each have their own stories and they're distinctly different to the other Mortarchs. They're new characters for one.
The original Mortarchs are all familiar to those who know Warhammer Fantasy. Neferata, Mannfred, Arkhan and Ushoran. Yes, Ushoran. He came back briefly and was a fairly noble Vampire for all intents and purposes before he rebelled against Nagash and eventually succumbed to madness when he was imprisoned in Nagash's personal prison. His madness became infectious and his prime lietuenants started spreading the "Mordant Curse" of delusion to create courts of their own, spreading it to Ghouls and Horrors and more as they crafted their own courts. Ushoran is still out there after escaping from Nagash's prison.
Aside from Ushora, Mannfred, Neferata and Arkhan are the other Mortarchs, and they are largely the same. Except, you have to wonder why these ambitious (well, not Arkhan, he's loyal) and duplicitous Vampires would serve Nagash so willingly without attempting to backstab him. Well, part of that is that they do have their own plots and agendas, but another is that they're not... real.
"We are him, and he is us. But we were all someone else, once. In us is Nagash's power made manifest. But so too are his weaknesses. Neferata is his guile, Mannfred, his ambition, and I...I am his loyalty – to others, to this realm, to those he claims as his own. What Nagash has claimed, he will hold until time's last gleaming, even if he must destroy it to keep it
~ Arkhan to Tamra ven-Drak."
The Mortarchs from the World-That-Was are not the same people we know. They are figments of Nagash's mind materialised into the Mortal Realms as he saw them. They are a part of Nagash. They do, however, posess some of their own innate characteristics. Mannfred, for example, created a twisted mockery of Sylvania in his alloted territory of Carstinia in Shyish, and even crafted a fascimile of Vlad and Isabella to serve him in his castle. But he eventually grew dispondent and felt something missing, so he abandoned it all in search of something to fill the void he held within him. Neferata continues to scheme for her own goals, and even managed to drag one of her Handmaidens from the World-That-Was (Naaima) into her service again. I have a slight suspicion she likes her a bit more than just a handmaiden. Arkhan is loyal, but even he has his own feelings in regards to Nagash, which are complicated to say the least.
This post does not take Orpheon Katakros and Lady Olynder into account. They each have their own stories and they're distinctly different to the other Mortarchs. They're new characters for one.
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Nagash wanted Mannfred to suffer, because he knew he was the guy who caused the world to die by killing Balthasar Gelt. AoS Mannfred is a part of Nagash anyway, so it's practically impossible for Mannfred to do anything to him.
In fact, Mannfred has occasional bouts of amnesia. He gets memory wiped from time to time and loses his identity. This is a quote from someone who knows more than me, because Mannfred's screentime is largely relegated to a novel that I haven't read:
"Nagash ripped and ravaged his memories to frayed remnants, constantly, to fit his mood and opinions at any given time. The Mannfred we know in the Mortal Realms barely remembers the Age of Myth, or anything before it"
Nagash revived Mannfred to torture him. At the end of the day Mannfred always listens to Nagash, and there's no way he can refuse him when Nagash can just fiddle with Mannfred's brain and change his viewpoints anytime he wants.
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I guess Ushoran is Nagash's delusional side, or madness
Edit; everyone enjoys kicking the shit out of Mannfred, even the deity he is part of.
Hey wait, instead of ambition, could Mannfred be Nagash's self-hate?
Edit; everyone enjoys kicking the shit out of Mannfred, even the deity he is part of.
Hey wait, instead of ambition, could Mannfred be Nagash's self-hate?
Last edited:
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Each Mortarch is a representation of a strength and a weakness. You could say that Neferata is not only a representation of his Guile, but also his Obsession. Arkhan is not only a representation of Loyalty, he is a representation single-mindedness. Mannfred could be an expression of not only Ambition, but Hubris as well.
Katakros and Olynder are different, since they were people in their own right before they became a Mortarch, and they're not a reconstruction. Katakros was a brilliant tactical genius and military general, and Olynder was an incredibly smart and devious monarch who specialised in skullduggery. Katakros represents Discipline and Order, whereas Olynder represents Grief and Fear.
Stormcast Chain of Command
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Today I'm going to tackle something ambitious, but of which I know a great deal about. I have not read the 3rd Edition book yet, but I've read the 2015 book, 2016 book, 2017 book and 2018 book, so I'd like to think I have a fair bit of experience with them.
I am, of course, talking about the Stormcast Eternals.
I haven't talked a lot about them in this thread, but I will say that I'm actually a fan of their lore, or at least the way that it's developed through the years. I got to see it firsthand as I saw the progression of each subsequent book further refining and honing their concept into a more potent story, and the multitudes of narratives featuring them helps establish them as people.
The Stormcast are interesting, and there's an absolute ton to cover regarding them, so I will keep this (relatively) short. I'll just go over the primary basics, then start talking about their chain of command. Because oh boy is it dense...
First off, what are the Stormcast? Well, after Sigmar locked himself in Azyr with all the refugees he could get during the Age of Chaos, he decided to create his own army to fight back against Chaos, because he knew brute strength alone wouldn't be enough. In the 500 years before the breaking of Sigmar's Tempest that heralded the Age of Sigmar, the God-King began forging his own brand of immortal supersoldiers as a weapon against Chaos and their own immortal supersoldiers. In theory, it was ingenious. What better way to fight Daemons who keep fighting back then Supersoldiers who keep coming back? In practice, there were a few issues.
The lore on whether a Stormcast is plucked from the Mortal Realms before they die or after they die is a bit wishy washy. In certain situations, Sigmar notices some heroic individual of worthy character in the Mortal Realms, usually martyring themselves against Chaos, and he then plucks them with his lightning to land them in his personal fortress of Sigmaron (which is one part of the ring known as the Sigmarabulum, orbiting Mallus and across from Dharroth, and his personal throne room has a High Stair leading to Sigmar's star Sigendil. There's a pattern here). Sometimes, the lore says he plucks them after they have died. In fact, there is one notable instance where an entire Stormhost consists entirely of long dead heroes from the Shyish realm of Hallost, the afterlife of Heroes, many of whom have been dead for innumerable ages, in fact some rumored to be from the World-That-Was.
So yeah, Sigmar just picks someone up with a worthy character, either before or after they die but definitely in a deadly scenario, and he then lands them in the Chamber of the Broken World, where the following happens:
"There are three stages to the creation of a Stormcast Eternal. In the Chamber of the Broken World, the chosen are blasted apart by heavenly lightning, the souls painstakingly remade before entering the Cairns of Tempering, wherein the spirits are blended with the Gifts of the Gods. The final stage is the Anvil of Apotheosis, whereupon they are smote by the World Hammer, infusing those who endure with a portion of the God-King's own divine might. Few indeed are the heroes who can survive the rigours of reforging, but those who do emerge are effectively immortal, death bringing about merely dissolution into the lightning from whence they came, blasting their spirit back to Azyr to commence the punishing ordeal anew." Souldbound Core Book Page 21
I should note that when Sigmar created the Stormcast, he acquired all the resources he could muster, many from his godly allies. He enlisted Teclis and Malerion's help to mask the Sigmarabulum in High Azyr in concealing magics that even Tzeentch could not see through. Malerion crafted the Gladitorium, a training ground full of illusion where warriors could kill each other and then come out okay on the other end. Grungni helped construct the whole thing, from the materials to the Anvil to the soul reforging process, and he granted Sigmar the service of his Demi-God Duardin disciples the Six Smiths so they could forge weapons for the Stormcast. Dracothian's breath mingled with a remnant of Vulcatrix' essence to forge the flame that would reconstruct the souls of those who passed through the Anvil, and he granted Sigmar his assistance in forming bonds with his Draconic children and the Stormcast.
Many souls don't survive the Reforging process, and the process itself is often traumatic and excruciatinly painful. The person that comes out on the other end is both less and more, and they are given a role within Sigmar's endless engine of war. They are trained under instructors through practical experience in the Gladitorium, and armored with arms and armor forged from Sigmarite acquired from the remnants of Mallus, thrice folded and thrice blessed with runes and scriptures carved into the armor and imbued with celestial energy from the Great Bolts and constellations that surround the Sigmarubulum. These different contellations provide different powers and affinities, and each have their own rudimentary personality and sentience that is bound in their weapons. The weapons match the wielder, and their armor matches their purpose.
An example from Page 56 of the 2018 Stormcast Book: "For example, the Azheden underhead is blunt and pitiless, and hence makes good warhammers, while the Ayorrian Maelstrom is quick and restless and so makes excellent skybolts."
When a Stormcast is trained and armored, their results determine where they are placed within the chain of command. And here is where things get... big. The basic structure is that Sigmar has a number of "Strikings". This refers to the rough period of time in which Sigmar constructs the Stormhosts. For example, the First Striking are the oldest Stormcast and some of the first to fight in the Realmgate Wars, whereas the Third Striking is newer and more recently forged (by Stormcast standards) and so they joined the Realmgate Wars later on and possesed different dispositions. It should be noted that Strikings was a major part of the first book, but it started to fall by the wayside later on. Stormhoss are generally divided by Striking, and you can roughly tell what Striking a Stormcast is from using the Emblem on their shield:
"All the Stormhosts of the First Striking bear the icon of a sacred hammer. Later strikings might use the icons of the twin-tailed comet, referring to how Sigmar entered Azyr; the eclipse, representing the light of Sigmar's salvation emerging from the shadow; or the wielded hammer, representing the Warrior Deant. eir exact colours vary from Stormhost to Stormhost." Page 84 2018 Stormcast Eternals
Sigmar is the ruler of the Stormcast, but because he's so busy, Celestant Prime is usually his emissary who leads his soldiers into battle and represents Sigmar's interests. Beneath Sigmar are the Stormhosts, which are the individual armies. About 5000-10000 per Stormhost, although they tend to be flexible. Stormhosts are led by Lord Commanders, and beneath those Lord Commanders who lead the Stormhost in aggregate is the Command Echelon. These Temples are essentially the advisors to the Lord Commander and also where trainees are trained and equipped so they can graduate as Officers. Stormcast Officers are split into two main classes, Knight and Lord, with Lord being greater than Knight. As such, you will often find Stormcasts with titles like "Knight-Relictor" vs "Lord-Relictor". The different temples represent different fields, and while there aren't many details on them, I can resonably infer that the Valedictor temple represents mages, Relictor temple represents Priests, Heraldor temple represents commanders and Judicator temple represents commandos and snipers. The officers that lead the Chamber Command graduate from these temples.
Below the Lord Commander and the Command Echelon are the Chambers. The Chambers are the Regiments of the Stormhost, representing different sections of the army. There are two main types of Chambers, Strike Chambers and Tempest Chambers. Strike Chambers consist of Warrior, Harbinger and Exemplar Chambers, representing the foot soldiers of the Stormhost. They are the most frequent of the Chambers in a Stormhost. The Tempest Chambers represent the support chambers and elite chambers consisting of smaller groups of Stormcast dedicated to a specific function. Tempest Chambers include the Extremis Chamber, the Vanguard Auxillary Chamber, and the Sancrosanct Chamber. The Ruination, Covenant and Logister Chambers have yet to be opened.
Each chamber has its own flexible composition and any numbers I give are likely to be dated and inaccurate, but just know that they are more compact groups. Each Chamber is commanded by the Chamber Command, which consists of a Lord who leads the Chamber and a number of Lords and Knights to supplement the Chamber's command structure. A Chamber is split up by its "Conclaves", and Conclaves are groups determining function which Retinues (units) are split by:
Retinues are the units within a Conclave, and each Retinue is typically led by a Prime. For example, a unit of Liberators is led by a Liberator-Prime. Sometimes, different Retinues, even across Conclaves and sometimes even Chamber, can cooperate together to create informal groups known as Brotherhoods that share a command structure between their Primes. Stormcast are rigorously drilled into performing combat and team tactics and their ability to respond and adapt is quite impressive.
So now that you know the basics, you can probably look at this diagram and not be completely lost:
There's a bunch of details here I haven't explained, so I'll run through it quickly.
Strike Chambers are split into Warrior, Exemplar and Harbinger Chambers. They all have similar retinues, but the difference is that Warrior Chambers are full of Redeemer and Justicar Conclaves, creating a body heavy group. Harbingers are primarily Angelos and Justicar, so their specialty is mobility. Exemplar Chambers are primarily Paladin Conclave, and tend to be an offense heavy elite chamber. All of these groups are led by a Lord Celestant.
Tempest Chambers are split into Extremis, Vanguard and Sancrosanct (for the moment). Extremis are the heavy cavalry consisting of Stormcast riding Dracoths and sometimes Star-Drakes, draconic children of Dracothian, after they have proven themselves during the Trial of Starwalking. Vanguard Chambers are a flexible Chamber that operates outside the usual chain of command led by a Lord Aquilor. They employ fast moving beasts such as Gryph Chargers and employ hit and run skirmish tactics and are expert scouts and rangers who serve as the vanguard to Sigmar's forces. The Sancrosanct Chamber consists of the magically attuned Stormcast who wield their magics to mitigate the negative consequences of Reforging (too much to go through rn) and who also fight in the frontlines against enemies who are particularly difficult to deal with without magic. Such as Gheists and Daemons.
There are a lot of different Stormhosts, and within these Stormhosts there are a lot of different Chambers, many of which have their own names and features and structures. The Hammers of Sigmar, for example, boast the greatest number of Extremis Chambers, and are the first Chamber to be constructed, so they hold the weight of the world on their shoulders. The Hallowed Knights are the most faithful of the Stormhosts and the third Stormhost to be made, and their belief guards them from the unholy creatures of Chaos.
Each Stormhost is represented by the colors of a Stormcast's armor. The Striking is often represented by the emblem on their shield. Which Chamber they belong to is often determined by the colors of their plume or crest. Which icon is on their shoulderpad determines which Conclave they belong to. Which Retinue a Stormcast is a part of is determined by the color of their tabard's trim, and sometimes by whether their buckle is bronze, gold or silver if they share their trip color with anoter retinue. The Primes of each Retinue often bear marks of honor that act like a badge known as "Beastmarks". These reprent traits or qualities that a Stormcast may posess, such as "the might of a cave bear, the swiftness of a Star-eagle, or the ferocity of a celestial lion."
I hope this was informative. This isn't the most exciting post, but I felt like I needed to get this out of the way. When I eventually get to writing about the Stormcast I can be happy I already did this groundwork. I also deliberately omitted Thunderstrike Armor, because that requires some catching up for me to accurately cover it.
I am, of course, talking about the Stormcast Eternals.
I haven't talked a lot about them in this thread, but I will say that I'm actually a fan of their lore, or at least the way that it's developed through the years. I got to see it firsthand as I saw the progression of each subsequent book further refining and honing their concept into a more potent story, and the multitudes of narratives featuring them helps establish them as people.
The Stormcast are interesting, and there's an absolute ton to cover regarding them, so I will keep this (relatively) short. I'll just go over the primary basics, then start talking about their chain of command. Because oh boy is it dense...
First off, what are the Stormcast? Well, after Sigmar locked himself in Azyr with all the refugees he could get during the Age of Chaos, he decided to create his own army to fight back against Chaos, because he knew brute strength alone wouldn't be enough. In the 500 years before the breaking of Sigmar's Tempest that heralded the Age of Sigmar, the God-King began forging his own brand of immortal supersoldiers as a weapon against Chaos and their own immortal supersoldiers. In theory, it was ingenious. What better way to fight Daemons who keep fighting back then Supersoldiers who keep coming back? In practice, there were a few issues.
The lore on whether a Stormcast is plucked from the Mortal Realms before they die or after they die is a bit wishy washy. In certain situations, Sigmar notices some heroic individual of worthy character in the Mortal Realms, usually martyring themselves against Chaos, and he then plucks them with his lightning to land them in his personal fortress of Sigmaron (which is one part of the ring known as the Sigmarabulum, orbiting Mallus and across from Dharroth, and his personal throne room has a High Stair leading to Sigmar's star Sigendil. There's a pattern here). Sometimes, the lore says he plucks them after they have died. In fact, there is one notable instance where an entire Stormhost consists entirely of long dead heroes from the Shyish realm of Hallost, the afterlife of Heroes, many of whom have been dead for innumerable ages, in fact some rumored to be from the World-That-Was.
So yeah, Sigmar just picks someone up with a worthy character, either before or after they die but definitely in a deadly scenario, and he then lands them in the Chamber of the Broken World, where the following happens:
"There are three stages to the creation of a Stormcast Eternal. In the Chamber of the Broken World, the chosen are blasted apart by heavenly lightning, the souls painstakingly remade before entering the Cairns of Tempering, wherein the spirits are blended with the Gifts of the Gods. The final stage is the Anvil of Apotheosis, whereupon they are smote by the World Hammer, infusing those who endure with a portion of the God-King's own divine might. Few indeed are the heroes who can survive the rigours of reforging, but those who do emerge are effectively immortal, death bringing about merely dissolution into the lightning from whence they came, blasting their spirit back to Azyr to commence the punishing ordeal anew." Souldbound Core Book Page 21
I should note that when Sigmar created the Stormcast, he acquired all the resources he could muster, many from his godly allies. He enlisted Teclis and Malerion's help to mask the Sigmarabulum in High Azyr in concealing magics that even Tzeentch could not see through. Malerion crafted the Gladitorium, a training ground full of illusion where warriors could kill each other and then come out okay on the other end. Grungni helped construct the whole thing, from the materials to the Anvil to the soul reforging process, and he granted Sigmar the service of his Demi-God Duardin disciples the Six Smiths so they could forge weapons for the Stormcast. Dracothian's breath mingled with a remnant of Vulcatrix' essence to forge the flame that would reconstruct the souls of those who passed through the Anvil, and he granted Sigmar his assistance in forming bonds with his Draconic children and the Stormcast.
Many souls don't survive the Reforging process, and the process itself is often traumatic and excruciatinly painful. The person that comes out on the other end is both less and more, and they are given a role within Sigmar's endless engine of war. They are trained under instructors through practical experience in the Gladitorium, and armored with arms and armor forged from Sigmarite acquired from the remnants of Mallus, thrice folded and thrice blessed with runes and scriptures carved into the armor and imbued with celestial energy from the Great Bolts and constellations that surround the Sigmarubulum. These different contellations provide different powers and affinities, and each have their own rudimentary personality and sentience that is bound in their weapons. The weapons match the wielder, and their armor matches their purpose.
An example from Page 56 of the 2018 Stormcast Book: "For example, the Azheden underhead is blunt and pitiless, and hence makes good warhammers, while the Ayorrian Maelstrom is quick and restless and so makes excellent skybolts."
When a Stormcast is trained and armored, their results determine where they are placed within the chain of command. And here is where things get... big. The basic structure is that Sigmar has a number of "Strikings". This refers to the rough period of time in which Sigmar constructs the Stormhosts. For example, the First Striking are the oldest Stormcast and some of the first to fight in the Realmgate Wars, whereas the Third Striking is newer and more recently forged (by Stormcast standards) and so they joined the Realmgate Wars later on and possesed different dispositions. It should be noted that Strikings was a major part of the first book, but it started to fall by the wayside later on. Stormhoss are generally divided by Striking, and you can roughly tell what Striking a Stormcast is from using the Emblem on their shield:
"All the Stormhosts of the First Striking bear the icon of a sacred hammer. Later strikings might use the icons of the twin-tailed comet, referring to how Sigmar entered Azyr; the eclipse, representing the light of Sigmar's salvation emerging from the shadow; or the wielded hammer, representing the Warrior Deant. eir exact colours vary from Stormhost to Stormhost." Page 84 2018 Stormcast Eternals
Sigmar is the ruler of the Stormcast, but because he's so busy, Celestant Prime is usually his emissary who leads his soldiers into battle and represents Sigmar's interests. Beneath Sigmar are the Stormhosts, which are the individual armies. About 5000-10000 per Stormhost, although they tend to be flexible. Stormhosts are led by Lord Commanders, and beneath those Lord Commanders who lead the Stormhost in aggregate is the Command Echelon. These Temples are essentially the advisors to the Lord Commander and also where trainees are trained and equipped so they can graduate as Officers. Stormcast Officers are split into two main classes, Knight and Lord, with Lord being greater than Knight. As such, you will often find Stormcasts with titles like "Knight-Relictor" vs "Lord-Relictor". The different temples represent different fields, and while there aren't many details on them, I can resonably infer that the Valedictor temple represents mages, Relictor temple represents Priests, Heraldor temple represents commanders and Judicator temple represents commandos and snipers. The officers that lead the Chamber Command graduate from these temples.
Below the Lord Commander and the Command Echelon are the Chambers. The Chambers are the Regiments of the Stormhost, representing different sections of the army. There are two main types of Chambers, Strike Chambers and Tempest Chambers. Strike Chambers consist of Warrior, Harbinger and Exemplar Chambers, representing the foot soldiers of the Stormhost. They are the most frequent of the Chambers in a Stormhost. The Tempest Chambers represent the support chambers and elite chambers consisting of smaller groups of Stormcast dedicated to a specific function. Tempest Chambers include the Extremis Chamber, the Vanguard Auxillary Chamber, and the Sancrosanct Chamber. The Ruination, Covenant and Logister Chambers have yet to be opened.
Each chamber has its own flexible composition and any numbers I give are likely to be dated and inaccurate, but just know that they are more compact groups. Each Chamber is commanded by the Chamber Command, which consists of a Lord who leads the Chamber and a number of Lords and Knights to supplement the Chamber's command structure. A Chamber is split up by its "Conclaves", and Conclaves are groups determining function which Retinues (units) are split by:
So now that you know the basics, you can probably look at this diagram and not be completely lost:
Strike Chambers are split into Warrior, Exemplar and Harbinger Chambers. They all have similar retinues, but the difference is that Warrior Chambers are full of Redeemer and Justicar Conclaves, creating a body heavy group. Harbingers are primarily Angelos and Justicar, so their specialty is mobility. Exemplar Chambers are primarily Paladin Conclave, and tend to be an offense heavy elite chamber. All of these groups are led by a Lord Celestant.
Tempest Chambers are split into Extremis, Vanguard and Sancrosanct (for the moment). Extremis are the heavy cavalry consisting of Stormcast riding Dracoths and sometimes Star-Drakes, draconic children of Dracothian, after they have proven themselves during the Trial of Starwalking. Vanguard Chambers are a flexible Chamber that operates outside the usual chain of command led by a Lord Aquilor. They employ fast moving beasts such as Gryph Chargers and employ hit and run skirmish tactics and are expert scouts and rangers who serve as the vanguard to Sigmar's forces. The Sancrosanct Chamber consists of the magically attuned Stormcast who wield their magics to mitigate the negative consequences of Reforging (too much to go through rn) and who also fight in the frontlines against enemies who are particularly difficult to deal with without magic. Such as Gheists and Daemons.
There are a lot of different Stormhosts, and within these Stormhosts there are a lot of different Chambers, many of which have their own names and features and structures. The Hammers of Sigmar, for example, boast the greatest number of Extremis Chambers, and are the first Chamber to be constructed, so they hold the weight of the world on their shoulders. The Hallowed Knights are the most faithful of the Stormhosts and the third Stormhost to be made, and their belief guards them from the unholy creatures of Chaos.
Each Stormhost is represented by the colors of a Stormcast's armor. The Striking is often represented by the emblem on their shield. Which Chamber they belong to is often determined by the colors of their plume or crest. Which icon is on their shoulderpad determines which Conclave they belong to. Which Retinue a Stormcast is a part of is determined by the color of their tabard's trim, and sometimes by whether their buckle is bronze, gold or silver if they share their trip color with anoter retinue. The Primes of each Retinue often bear marks of honor that act like a badge known as "Beastmarks". These reprent traits or qualities that a Stormcast may posess, such as "the might of a cave bear, the swiftness of a Star-eagle, or the ferocity of a celestial lion."
I hope this was informative. This isn't the most exciting post, but I felt like I needed to get this out of the way. When I eventually get to writing about the Stormcast I can be happy I already did this groundwork. I also deliberately omitted Thunderstrike Armor, because that requires some catching up for me to accurately cover it.
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Stormcast organisation is fecking complicated.
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They live, fight, breath, and eat war. They were made for war and they participate in it almost every waking moment. Every moment they spend after dying and being reforged is waiting and preparing for the next time they're sent into combat again. In that sense, it makes sense that it's complicated. Imagine a society tailored entirely around combat. That's Stormcast.
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its a really very simple comapred to modern irl militaries.
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Oh yeah, I should mention something I like about the way Stormcast Battletomes are implemented. Stormcast were released in 2015 with only the Strike Chambers. The 2016 book introduced the Extremis Chamber, where the Dracothian Guard and Star Drakes were released. 2017 They released a new book with the Vanguard Chamber. 2018 They released a book with the Sancrosanct Chamber. The only book in which they didn't release a new Chamber is the 2021 3rd Edition book. Instead, we get the Draconith (a third Dragon type, this time even more Dragon) and because Grungni is back in town he decided to upgrade the Stormcast to Thunderstrike Armor which makes them explode when they die. And we got a beefing up of the roster with new units and heroes to the existing roster.
I won't deny that they were releasing these books like an IPhone, with a new iteration every year. There's a definite level of bias and favoritism there, and that has lessened over the years as management has changed and things progressed. The Stormcast don't hog nearly as much screentime as they used to. But what I liked about the releases was getting to see their lore develop and become more fleshed out in real time.
Also what I liked is that every book released with a new Chamber "unlocking". The in-universe reason for why these Chambers weren't there from the start is that the Chambers are sealed by Sigmar, and he only releases them when he thinks they're ready. Sometimes they do a thing where Sigmar had a Chamber already unlocked and doing stuff, but they were in the background (Vanguard were serving as stealthy scouts and Sancrosanct were back in Sigmaron overseeing the Reforging process). But with almost every book we get to see a Chamber unlocking and a new range increase.
The Stormcast do suffer from a degree of unit bloat. They certainly have the biggest range in Age of Sigmar at something like 50+ units. But really, a good 50% or more are Heroes. And you really typically see like 25% of the range at most in tournaments. They have a lot of bad to mediocre units.
I won't deny that they were releasing these books like an IPhone, with a new iteration every year. There's a definite level of bias and favoritism there, and that has lessened over the years as management has changed and things progressed. The Stormcast don't hog nearly as much screentime as they used to. But what I liked about the releases was getting to see their lore develop and become more fleshed out in real time.
Also what I liked is that every book released with a new Chamber "unlocking". The in-universe reason for why these Chambers weren't there from the start is that the Chambers are sealed by Sigmar, and he only releases them when he thinks they're ready. Sometimes they do a thing where Sigmar had a Chamber already unlocked and doing stuff, but they were in the background (Vanguard were serving as stealthy scouts and Sancrosanct were back in Sigmaron overseeing the Reforging process). But with almost every book we get to see a Chamber unlocking and a new range increase.
The Stormcast do suffer from a degree of unit bloat. They certainly have the biggest range in Age of Sigmar at something like 50+ units. But really, a good 50% or more are Heroes. And you really typically see like 25% of the range at most in tournaments. They have a lot of bad to mediocre units.
Slaanesh in AoS
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I'm having a lazy day, so the fun fact of the day is going to be less substantial and just something I find interesting.
While Slaanesh still primarily uses he/him pronouns (or at least the authors do), almost every Slaaneshi Daemon that I know of in Age of Sigmar uses they/them and it's reflected in the rules text. This includes Dexcessa and Synessa, the children of Slaanesh.
Also notably, Age of Sigmar significantly expanded the Slaanesh range, covering aspects of Slaanesh that isn't just lust and pain. THe Myrmidesh Painbringers are prideful elite and vain soldiers, and the Symbaresh Twinsouls are warriors who formed pacts with Daemonettes to split their soul in two, one Daemon one Mortal, to gain more power and fuel thier ambition.
What I like most though, is the contrast between the two mortal heroes of Slaanesh. Sigvald the Magnificent reborn, and Glutos Orscollion, Lord of Gluttony:
These two are the leading heroes of Slaanesh's mortal heroes, and they are both quite powerful, albeit in different ways. Sigvald is vain and prideful, absurdly narcissitic and an expert warrior skilled in combat to Daemonic degrees. Glutos on the other hand, is a powerful wizard with an endless appetite who has devoured entire nations in his quest to sample all the delights of the realms. The two are very different, yet they both represent what Slaanesh is all about. Excess.
Of Slaanesh' Six Circles, Sigvald represents Vainglory and Glutos Gluttony. The others are Avidity (Greed), Paramountcy (Ambition), Indolence (Sloth) and Carnality (Lust). There is some design space to tinket with mortal heroes who represent other aspects of Slaanesh if they desire.
While Slaanesh still primarily uses he/him pronouns (or at least the authors do), almost every Slaaneshi Daemon that I know of in Age of Sigmar uses they/them and it's reflected in the rules text. This includes Dexcessa and Synessa, the children of Slaanesh.
Also notably, Age of Sigmar significantly expanded the Slaanesh range, covering aspects of Slaanesh that isn't just lust and pain. THe Myrmidesh Painbringers are prideful elite and vain soldiers, and the Symbaresh Twinsouls are warriors who formed pacts with Daemonettes to split their soul in two, one Daemon one Mortal, to gain more power and fuel thier ambition.
What I like most though, is the contrast between the two mortal heroes of Slaanesh. Sigvald the Magnificent reborn, and Glutos Orscollion, Lord of Gluttony:
Of Slaanesh' Six Circles, Sigvald represents Vainglory and Glutos Gluttony. The others are Avidity (Greed), Paramountcy (Ambition), Indolence (Sloth) and Carnality (Lust). There is some design space to tinket with mortal heroes who represent other aspects of Slaanesh if they desire.
I hope that the implication of mixed race formations is born out.
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The latest article mentions humans, aelves and duardin, whereas the banner article only mentioned humans. I think that's somewhat promising.
Kuja
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(Disclaimer: this was written before lady stormcast were confirmed.)
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I have no comment on the Space Marine comparison. I don't care for 40K and don't want to get into it. On the topic of lady Stormcasts, however, I do have something to mention.
Perhaps the first female Stormcast model was Neave Blacktalon, a Hero released in the Blightwar set in 2017 during 1st Edition AoS. You can find her in the bottom left:
Also, the Tumblr post is really long. Please put it under a spoiler.
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I won't get into it, but keeping it brief;
Yeah. Pretty much fantasy Space Marines.
Tbf it's probably because SM are easy to paint, and they wanted something similar.
Although they could have still made it more different.
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Maybe from a design perspective in terms of bulky armor and being led by a God King (except Sigmar is an actual character and the God Emperor is a husk), but the Stormcast aren't xenophobic and they're not clones of some dude. They're all individual people who had their own lives before turning superhuman. I'm also pretty sure that the core concept behind the Stormcast, Reforging, isn't something that Space Marines have.
I don't know much about Space Marines, but I know enough to tell you that while they may have intended them to be Fantasy Marines early on, they've developed their own identity. Also, it's far more appealing when it's not just the same white dude copy and pasted a thousand times.
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I just said I'm not getting into it, buuuuuuut...
Space Marines aren't clones. Although they do sometimes shift to resemble their Primarch (Think Lord-Commander)
They kinda do, although it's not as dramatic. Pubescent boys are modified with 19 special organs that turn them into superhumans.
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I'm talking about dying and coming back changed. If you compare genetic engineering to Reforging than Wrath from Full Metal Alchemist was Reforged as well. Where's his Stormcast badge?
That's news to me. They all look the same.
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Eeeeer the closest Space Marines have is crossing the Rubicon Primaris, which is a operation to upgrade Firstborn marines to Primaris (not going to explain, it's kinda shit). It's apparently common to die and come back during the surgery.
Oh, or dying and joining the Legion of the Danmed... which is actually very close to Stormcast, considering they are regarded as Order Demons. Huh.
Hmm, yeah. The biggest deviation are Salamanders, who have (burnt and crispy) black skin and red eyes. Nice guys, a bit over fond of fire.
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Mortals remade in their God-King's image, bigger stronger and faster with advanced weaponry and tactics.
Again I'm not going into it too much, but when you compare the two, there are too many similarities to ignore
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They are not remade in Sigmar's image. If Sigmar wanted to do that, he would have gotten the burliest dudes together and called it a day. Instead, he acquired a wide variety of individuals from across the Realms to represent all the different prespectives and abilities that would be needed, much of which Sigmar himself is incapable of doing.
The Stormcast was an admission from Sigmar that he couldn't do things alone, and that he was but one man, and he knew a few things but he didn't know everything. He failed because he was too hot-headed and beligerent, and he hoped to create an organisation that would be able to do what he couldn't. Save the Mortal Realms.
Also, it's a stretch to call what the Stormcast have advanced weaponry in the same manner as Space Marines. Stormcast don't use scientific mumbo jumbo to explain their equipment. They get their stuff forged by Demigods who bind sentient lightning into the shards of a broken world. It's magic and it's not pretending to be anything else.
Actual advanced weaponry is the Kharadron Overlords, who do have advanced tech like airships and assault rifles, even if the materials are magical.
Change "advanced" to "superior" "finest" or something like that and it works perfectly for both