Guide d'armée et revue de Stormcast Eternals (Tactiques et unités)

This is the Stormcast Eternals Army Guide for Age of Sigmar, updated for the fourth edition.

In here we will describe in detail the Stormcast Eternals army starting from its lore, the main units and their roles, how the army plays and finally our personal opinion of the army in Age of Sigmar.

Overview of Stormcast Eternals Army

The Stormcast Eternals are, in many ways, the protagonists of the Age of Sigmar fictional universe, or at least, they are the focus of most major events in the game’s history such as the starter sets for new editions. They are the elite fighting force of the God-King Sigmar, battling against overwhelming odds across all the Mortal Realms to reclaim them for Order and civilization.

Since they’re the poster boys of the franchise, they have an absurd number of different units available.

There are more than 50 warscrolls in their battletome! This might sound like too much to wrap your head around, but it also makes them a good starter army, since they have a tool for almost every situation: from hard-hitting melee infantry to devastating shooting units, from fast cavalry to wizards, flying units, artillery and more heroes than anyone could ever possibly need.

On top of that, most of those units are durable and have multiple wounds, as well as usually dishing out a good amount of damage. They’re not as specialized as Les seigneurs de Kharadron or as excellent at magic as a Lumineth army, but you can learn almost any playstyle with them, and they are fairing pretty well at tournaments (as of writing at least).

On the downside, with the new edition, there has been a culling of recent miniatures, specifically those belonging to the Sacrosanct Chamber who were only 5 years old or less. Officially, the ban on tournaments will start the 1st of June 2025, so it is possible to still see them in the meanwhile. In addition, some models from the first edition received an updated sculpt, so you may still see some with the bulkier armour characteristic of the earlier models.

In this review, all retiring kits have been ignored.

Let’s have a look at their background before we dive into all their rules

Lore of the Stormcast Eternals

The Stormcast Eternals are created on the Anvil of Apotheosis in Azyr, the Realm of Heavens, by the God-King Sigmar himself with the help of the duardin god Grungni. Sigmar was the leader of the Pantheon of gods during the Age of Myth, when Order and civilization thrived across all Mortal Realms.

When the disruptive forces of Chaos started entering the world, ushering in the Age of Chaos, Sigmar was forced to withdraw to Azyr, and the Realms were lost to Chaos. From his sanctuary, Sigmar made a plan for retaking the Realms: he began collecting the souls of brave human heroes who had stood against the forces of Chaos, and with the help of the other gods, he began reforging those souls into immortal superhumans: the first Stormcast Eternals.

When all was almost lost and the forces of Chaos were closing in on the very last pockets of resistance, Sigmar made his move: lightning struck from the sky, and within that lightning, regiments of plate-armoured Stormcast Eternals descended as magical paratroopers and started fighting back against evil. Whenever a Stormcast warrior was struck down by the enemy, they ascended to the heavens in a blast of lightning, and their souls returned to Azyr to be reforged and be ready to fight again.

Unfortunately, this form of immortality came at a price: each reforging stripped away a bit of the warrior’s soul, so that each time they died and came back again, they were a little less human.

While the Stormcast are in many ways the heroes of the Age of Sigmar, it doesn’t mean they’re perfectly good: as they go through their reforgings, they become less empathetic, less sane and more like killing machines, and anyone in the Mortal Realms with a less than spotless record of purity and anti-Chaos sentiment fears the heavy footsteps of their armoured “saviours”.

Over the centuries since their first arrival in the Mortal Realms, the military organization of the Stormcast army has evolved. Sigmar designed his warriors in a number of chambers, each with a different function, and for every new threat thrown at the forces of Order, he has a habit of releasing a new one on the battlefield: the Warrior Chamber was the first to arrive, with its rank-and-file shield-bearing units of powerful melee fighters and their support units. They were essential to obtain the first victories during the Realmgate Wars, a series of campaigns with the scope of freeing the most important Realmgates from the clutches of Chaos.

Soon the skirmishing Vanguard Chamber started hunting down Chaos forces in the wildernesses of the Realms. And when Nagash released the Necroquake and filled the Mortal Realms with Death magic, the magic-wielding Sacrosanct Chamber entered the fray. There are even more chambers such as the drake riders of the Extremis Chamber, and some not yet revealed like the Covenant and Logister Chambers.

Most recently, many of these chambers have received more advanced reinforcements, as the deeds of Daemon Prince Be’Lakor made it much more difficult for slain Stormcast warriors to return to Azyr thanks to a phenomenon called the Cursed Skies. The new Stormstrike Armor, the latest gift from Grungni, solves this issue granting new powers to those wearing it, including the ability to return to Azyr despite the Cursed Skies. In addition, the Seraphon revealed the hatched eggs of Draconith they preserved since the time Kragnos‘ race waged war against them and now the most trustworthy Stormcast ride the skies on top of these powerful allies.

At the end of the Age of Beast, which saw a resurgence of life and brutality as part of the purifying ritual cast by Alarielle, the Skaven entered the fray forcefully. Their scheming finally brought some results as they were able to corrupt enough ley lines to allow a portion of their capital, Skavenblight, to emerge in the middle of Aqshy, the Realm of Fire, obliterating everything and everyone who was there.

To reply to this new threat, Sigmar has been forced to release the Ruination Chamber that is made of those Stormcast Eternals that are at the end of their humanity, ready to be extinguished. It is a desperate move, as those soldiers, while being quite adept to fighting Chaos forces and impervious to some of its corruption, are one step from becoming gheists and be lost forever.

Stormcast Eternals are divided into Stormhosts, brotherhoods of warriors with distinct aesthetics, traditions and tactics. Some, like the Hammers of Sigmar, are classic heroic liberators, while other Stormhosts are more sinister such as the hyper-dogmatic puritans of the Knights Excelsior, or dedicated to specific pursuits such as the monster-slayers of the Astral Templars.

Perhaps the greatest deed of the Stormcast Eternals so far is their role in establishing the Free Cities: small pockets of civilisation in the still mostly Chaos-dominated Mortal Realms. In the Free Cities, many Stormhosts have established a more permanent military presence, and they can now be seen defending cities such as Excelsis alongside ordinary humans, duardin and aelves, or traveling tirelessly across deserts and mountain ranges with the expansionist Dawnbringer Crusades.

Whether you see them as paragons of Order or terrifying colonisers, the Stormcast Eternals are taking back the world of Age of Sigmar – well-knowing they have to fight for every inch of it, and even pay for it with their own humanity.

Read our article here if you want to know more about the lore of Age of Sigmar.

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Army rules for Stormcast Eternals

How does a Stormcast Eternals army play on the tabletop in Age of Sigmar?

Let’s begin with the Battle Traits of the army, which are the main rules that define it, considering not much changed from the index published at the dawn of the new edition.

• The first ability allows to deploy in reserve (Celestial Realms) a number of Stormcast Eternals units inferior to the ones already deployed. They can then be deployed in your movement phase anywhere on the battlefield outside the 9″ range from enemy units.
• Once per battle, in your movement phase, you can bring back to life half a Infantry or Cavalry unit who had 2 or more models before being destroyed. The usual 9″ distance from enemies applies (Heavens-sent).
• Finally, once per turn, a single Stormcast Eternals unit can buff their wound and save rolls by 1 for the rest of the turn (Their Finest Hour).

The Stormcast have also access to four battle formations, which provide a buff depending on the Chamber a unit belongs to:

• Each turn a single Ruination unit can have a ward of 5+
• Warrior units add +1 to their hit rolls as long as they are wholly within any non-hero non-beast non-Warrior Stormcast Eternals unit.
• A single Vanguard unit that didn’t move in his movement phase, on a 3+ can be teleported anywhere outside the 9″ bubble from enemy units.
• Once per combat phase, a single Extremis unit on a 3+ obtains Strike-first.

Stormcast heroic traits include great options like Envoy of the Heavens, which gives a 5+ ward after a friendly unit has been destroyed (you choose the unit, but has to be activated in your subsequent hero phase).

The list of artefacts of power is not interesting, but Mirrorshield protects a hero from shooting attacks further than 9″ and is a good option for that wizard or priest you want to spare in the backlines.

Stormcast’s spell lore is the Lore of the Storm, which includes an unlimited D3 mortal wounds (each time pick a different target, Lightning Blast), a +1 to wound rolls to a single unit (Thundershock), and a spell that reduces by 1 the dice used in the charge rolls (to a minimum of 1, Starfall). Their manifestation lore, Manifestations of the Storm, are all spells which are discussed in a later section.

Stormcast have also a prayer lore, Prayers of the Stormhosts, with Healing Storm as the unlimited choice which heals a target or, if enhanced, all units within 12″ of the target. Similarly, Bless Weapons, adds +1 to the melee attacks of a target or, if enhanced, all friendly units within 12″. Finally, Translocation, allows to teleport a target, and, if enhanced, enemies have -1 to hit that unit.

Compared to previous editions, there are no mount options or other enhancements.

They are technically not battle traits, but most units belong to a specific chamber and they have an extra rule that is similar for all units within the same group:

• Vanguard units can run or retreat and still shoot and/or charge in the same turn.
• Extremis units allocate mortal damage to the attacking unit when they roll a natural 6 on a save.
• One Ruination unit per turn, when targeted by a non-core ability, can ignore the effects on a 4+.

Units and their roles in the Stormcast Eternals Army – Heroes

Monster Heroes

Krondys and Karazai are two brothers, sons of Dracothion, the God-beast that awoke Sigmar and since then helped him in the fight against Chaos. These two elder Draconith, once princes of a powerful race, have lived for many centuries separate from their own, which disappeared since the cataclysmic war against the Drogrukh led by Kragnos.

Krondys, Son of Dracothion is a wizard with power level 2 and a +2 to cast (extreme rare bonus). His signature spell is a debuffer (you can choose 3 different effects when cast) and his rampage on a 3+ prevents enemies from using command abilities for the rest of the turn. He has a great attacking profile, a bonus shooting attack and one of the few sources of wizardry available in this army after the culling of the Sacrosanct Chamber.

Karazai the Scarred is the fighter version of Krondys, with the same attacks as Krondys, but they increase in number the more Karazai is wounded. He is no wizard, but like his brother he is a Warmaster and has two combat phase abilities: one for a chance to damage mostly horde units, and the other to reduce the number of attacks received.

Both dragons are pretty well suited to lead Stormcast Eternals armies in the fourth edition (Krondys appeared in the list who won the Warhammer World Championship in November 2024).

Le Knight-Draconis is riding a majestic Draconith and was an extremely popular leader choice. His role is to buff the Stormdrake Guard by giving them a 4+ ignore enemy spell ability and a +1 attack on all weapon profiles in combat. Still a good option to lead a Dragon based army.

Le Lord-Celestant on Stardrake kit can also be assembled as a Drakesworn Templar. The first one can buff other Extremis chamber units, the second one obtains buffs when attacking monsters. For both, too little and too expensive.

Ionus Cryptborn, Warden of the Lost Souls is a Priest(2) with a signature prayer which allows to chain-strike a series of enemy units for D3 mortal wounds. Apart from that, his shooting attacks keep damaging his targets every shooting phase even if Ionus has been destroyed. In melee he does not excel and may be a bit too expensive as a priest, but he is not a bad profile either.

Iridan the Witness is the newest centre-piece representing the Ruination Chamber. He is a Priest(1) with a signature prayer which can heal and give a ward of 6+ and an ability which allows him to retreat at the end of the turn. As all Ruination units, he has a 50% chance to ignore a Non-Core ability effect, but only a single unit per turn can use it.

The same kit can be used to assemble a generic Lord-Vigilant on Morrgryph, which loses the Priest keyword, has similar attacks and only an ability which has a chance to do Strike-last to an enemy. Too little for a too expensive unit.

Infantry heroes

Le Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar is the first great hero Stormcast ever had and he wields nothing else than Ghal Maraz, Sigmar’s hammer! He is a strong hero with a 3+ save and 5+ ward that makes him extremely resilient, accompanied by a great attack profile. The later he descends from the Celestial Realms, the closer he can be to enemy units (up to 5″ on the last battle round), but you don’t really want to keep him too long outside the battlefield. He is a Warmaster, so would count as your general.

Yndrasta, the Celestial Spear is the hero that introduced Age of Sigmar 3.0, first released in the Dominion box. She is specialised in hunting monsters by increasing the damage against them. She has also a 3 dice charge which would allow her to go wherever she is needed and she is a Warmaster.

Lord-Commander Bastian Carthalos is the supreme leader of the Hammers of Sigmar, represented by his ability to allow friendly Stormcast units within 12″ to use the Attaque tous azimuts ability for free (extreme rare buff in this edition). He can also choose 3 Infantry units to do a pre-game move after deployment and heals himself 4 wounds each turn he slays at least one model. 3+ save, 5+ ward, 18″ shooting attacks and a good melee profile make him a great option if you need a melee hero.

Gardus Steel Soul is the first named character from a stormhost that is not Hammers of Sigmar and the protagonist of a series of novels from Josh Reynolds. He gives a 5+ ward to friendly units when he charges, buffs up to 3 Infantry units in his charge phase and now counts as a bonus hero who can go in other heroes’ regiments.

Tornus the Redeemed started his story in Age of Sigmar lore as a champion of Nurgle, before being redeemed and now he got also his own miniature. He can fly and belongs to the Ruination chamber, which he can buff in few ways, but suffers from the excessive amount of heroes in this army and he is not a bonus hero.

Le Knight-Azyros comes from the same kit as Tornus, and has similar abilities, all working on a 3+ (one buffs anyone, the other Prosecutors) but at least he is a bonus hero.

Le Lord-Celestant only attribute is to chain-attack with another non-hero Warrior Chamber Infantry unit which attacks immediately after with a bonus to wound of +1.

Le Lord-Imperatant can be used to help units set up from reserve to be positioned in a better charging position (they can move D3″ after being deployed) so if you are relying heavily on the Scions of the Storm battle trait, this could be an interesting tool. His accompanying Gryph-hound counts as a token for a 5+ ward which goes away the first time a 1 is rolled on the ward rolls.

Le Lord-Relictor is one of the most iconic Stormcast models, even better in this re-sculpt (the previous one was the first model of Ionus Cryptborn). He is a Priest(1) with an embedded +1 to chant and as such one of the best sources of prayers in this army, which are also pretty good. He is almost an auto-include in all lists.

Le Knight-Relictor is also a Priest(1) who can decrease an enemy ward by 1 but that’s not enough to compete with the Lord-Relictor.

Le Knight-Arcanum is a Wizard(1) with some buffs against Manifestations. The Stormcoven is a better wizard with more wounds, attacks and they don’t count as a hero/drop.

Le Knight-Judicator comes with a unit of 2 Gryph-hounds which can be used as tokens to indicate against which unit the Knight-Judicator has a bonus to hit and wound. However, he is not really a noteworthy profile.

Le Knight-Vexillor can heal D3 units and is a bonus hero.

Le Knight-Questor counts as a buffer for the Questor Soulsworn but is too little to be of interest.

Le Lord-Terminos had not one but two models recently released. He is a melee hero, with the only special ability allowing another non-hero Ruination Infantry (Prosecutors and Reclusians only for now) to attack immediately after with a +1 to hit.

Le Lord-Veritant is a Priest(1) with the ability to unbind as if a Wizard(1). His Gryph-crow gives also a 12″ bubble of -1 to cast and chant to enemy units, but at the first natural roll of 1 on a save, the token and debuff are gone.

Finally, our last Infantry Hero is Neave Blacktalon with her retinue, which includes another hero, Lorai and Neave’s Companions (Infantry unit). The particularity of this group is that Neave can run and shoot/charge and after attacking teleport to another Blacktalon unit before the enemy can retaliate. Lorai, Child of the Abyss is a Wizard(1) but can only use her signature spell (only shooting attacks with unmodified 6 to hit can hit a Blacktalon unit within 6″) as she is an Idoneth Deepkin unit. The rest of the group is the source of a 5+ ward for themselves and nearby Blacktalon heroes. They are also a regiment of renown which can be used in other Order armies.

Cavalry heroes

Le Vandus Hammerhand kit (from the original starter set of Age of Sigmar) can also be used to assemble a generic Lord-Celestant on Dracoth. The first can buff Warrior Chamber units, the second Extremis units. They both suffer from the fact that a good portion of their attacks comes from the Companion attacks of their mount, which cannot be buffed in any way.

Le Lord-Aquilor is the main leader of the Vanguard Chamber. His main use is to teleport himself and up to two units of Palladors unengaged anywhere on the battlefield (outside the usual 9″ from enemies). If you are leaning heavily on Vanguard units, he can be worth as a leader of one of your regiments.

Le Lord-Vigilant on Gryph-stalker is the poster boy of the Skaventide box, a Ruination hero. His main use is to allow a non-hero Reclusian unit to fight twice in the same combat phase (once per battle, the second time with Strike-last). Only problem for now there’s only Prosecutors and Reclusians in this category and there’s better utility heroes.

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Units and their roles in the Stormcast Eternals Army – Non-Heroes

Stormcast Eternals Infantry

Le Prosecutors new model is much more streamlined compared to its previous iteration. There is now only a single weapon option: the javelin, and an aesthetic choice of trident for the unit champion. They also swapped chamber from Warrior to Ruination, meaning they have the 4+ chance (once per turn and army) to ignore a single non-core ability affecting them (enemy spells or abilities).

Their 12″ flying movement and 3 dice charge roll, combined with the 10″ shooting attacks, makes them excellent units to harass the vulnerable enemy units or take further objectives. They are one of the most used unit in the army at the moment.

Le Vigilors are an interesting shooting unit with 18″ range and an ability that gives any other Stormcast unit a +1 to hit against their target if the Vigilors allocated at least 1 damage point in the same turn. Considering the 11 attacks at rend -1 of a minimum sized unit, it may be possible to spread this buff to 1 or 2 units every turn.

Le Praetors are a defensive unit who swears to protect a single hero and as long as they are in each other’s combat range, they both have a 5+ ward which can be useful to protect an infantry hero.

Le Liberators represent the classic rank-and-file unit, now with the new look in a slimmer armour. As the Prosecutors, their weapon profile has been also simplified, but their role is more to establish a foothold on an objective, even better if on their own turf, and hold as long as possible.

Le Vanquishers are swordsmen and their role is to fight horde units (infantry units with 5 or more models) against which they can really do some damage.

Le Vindictors are another defensive units, but their main buff (strike-first) depends on them not charging and works on a 4+.

Le Questeur Soulsworn is a Warcry warband representing a group of Knight-Questors. In game, their main trick is to be able to teleport once per game even out of a combat, but since the release of the Stormreach Portal, anyone can do it.

Le Stormcoven was born as a Warhammer Underworlds warband but in Age of Sigmar are now a non-unique (but also not reinforceable) non-hero wizard unit. So, if you want a good candidate to cast your manifestations and you don’t want to rely on Krondys, they are a valid alternative. Their signature spell can also apply strike-first or strike-last to a target.

Le Annihilators come in two shapes. The classic ones first seen in the Dominion box, and those armed with Meteoric Grandhammer. The first one, with their huge shield, is a defensive unit which can give strike-last to a unit that charges them, the second one is more offensive and can give the same debuff rolling high enough on a charge roll. Both can do some splash damage when are deployed from reserve.

Le Vanguard-Hunters are a hybrid unit which works both ranged and melee without excelling in either. They get a +1 to hit and 2″ move bonus towards a single enemy unit chosen during deployment as their target. They could be interesting in a Vanguard Wing using the teleport ability provided by that battle formation.

Le Vanguard-Raptors continue their positive trend as one of the most efficient ranged units in this army, in particular the first of their two profiles: the Longstrike Crossbows. They have 18″ range and, if they don’t move, they can headshot any hero ignoring the Guarded Hero ability which prevents picking them. With a total rend -3 against heroes, they are extremely dangerous to those profiles.

Le Hurricane Crossbows on the other side work better against Infantry and can provide a +1 to wound bonus to other Vanguard units attacking their same target (provided they allocated at least one damage to them). It is a similar buff to the one from the Vigilors, but that one works better.

The last infantry unit is the Reclusians, a weird one as the two humans around count as tokens which improve the Ruination resistance roll (on a 4+ ignore the effects of a non-core ability, once per turn per army) but disappear for each natural 1 rolled when saving. They are a heavy infantry unit which hits pretty hard and would be the core of any Ruination-based army.

Stormcast Eternals Cavalry

Le Stormstrike Palladors are a new cavalry unit added to the roster with the role of shock cavalry thanks to their multiple buffs on charge. However, the most important ones, re-rolling charge rolls and strike-first when charging, are dependant on another Warrior chamber unit to have already been destroyed.

Le Vanguard Palladors are part of the Vanguard cavalry (so they could teleport in a Vanguard Wing battle formation) but a similar defence profile to the Stormstrike. They have two weapon loadouts. The Starstrike Javelins is the most interesting since it allows to shoot a second time in the charge phase (only against the target of a successful charge) bypassing any combat phase buff. They also have two ranged weapons, so they can be quite deadly.

Le Shock Handaxes, on the other side, have a 1 more melee attack (at the cost of 1 less ranged attack) and a -1 to wound debuff to an enemy unit which has been damaged by their melee attack. It means that if the enemy unit goes first in the combat phase, the debuff becomes null.

The Dracothian Guard was the main base unit of the Extremis Chamber, and comes with 4 profiles which are basically all different weapon loadouts.

• Le Concussors, with their hammer, represent the heavy-hitting unit which a chance to prevent the engaged unit to not use command abilities
• Le Desolators, with their axe, are horde-thinner (infantry units with 10 or more models).
• Le Fulminators, with their glaive, point all on a extremely damaging charge.
• Le Tempestors add an extra shooting attack which prevents the use of All-out Defence in the ensuing combat phase.

At the right price the Fulminators could be an interesting unit. All of them can be fielded as pairs (or reinforced) or as a single-model unit for each Lord-Celestant on Dracoth in the army (they come from the same kit).

Stormcast Eternals Monster

Le Stormdrake Guard is the only non-hero monster available in this army. It’s the same kit from which comes the Knight-Draconis, so, while they normally are fielded in pairs, a single model could be used as a single unit as well. They are strong, with good attacks, a bit of ranged potential and an ability to move in combat another 2D6″ through a charged unit, so that they can hit the back lines (provided their base fits).

Stormcast Eternals Beast

The Beasts in Age of Sigmar have the main issue to have a maximum control value of 1, so they can’t be used to control objectives. The Aetherwings only role is to provide a +1 to hit to Vanguard chambers when they are within distance from the enemy unit. May be worth considering in a Vanguard-heavy list.

Le Grypth-hounds, instead, have a similar price but double the wounds and the attacks, meaning they are a much better chaff unit. They also have a rule where an enemy unit being set up from reserve too close to them may suffer some mortal damage.

Stormcast Eternals War Machine

Le Stormstrike Chariot is the only remaining Stormcast war machine and can be assembled either as a charge-focussed unit or a mixed unit with a less-than-exciting shooting profile. Chariots suffer a lot in the new edition, and this is no exception.

Wizards and Priests in Stormcast Eternals

These are the wizards available in a Stormcast Eternals army (in brackets their power level):

• Krondys (2)
• Lorai, Child of the Abyss (1) – can’t cast any Stormcast Eternals spell
• Knight-Arcanum (1)
• Stormcoven (1)

These are the priests available in a Stormcast Eternals army (in brackets their power level):

• Ionus Cryptborn (2)
• Iridan the Witness (1)
• Lord-Relictor (1)
• Knight-Relictor (1)
• Lord-Veritant (1)

List of Stormcast Eternals by Chamber

For reference, here we will relist all units divided by which Chamber they belong to as some rules apply only to specific Chambers. Some, like the Celestant-Prime, don’t belong to any Chamber.

Warrior Chamber

• Vandus Hammerhand
• Gardus Steel Soul
• Lord-Celestant
• Lord-Imperatant
• Lord-Relictor
• Knight-Arcanum
• Knight-Judicator
• Knight-Relictor
• Knight-Vexillor
• Knight-Questor
• Praetors
• Stormstrike Palladors
• Stormstrike Chariot
• Vigilors
• Liberators
• Vanquishers
• Vindictors
• Questeur Soulsworn
• Stormcoven
• Annihilators
• Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammer

Extremis Chamber

• Lord-Celestant on Dracoth
• Lord-Celestant on Stardrake
• Drakesworn Templar
• Dracothian Guard Concussors
• Dracothian Guard Desolators
• Dracothian Guard Fulminators
• Dracothian Guard Tempestors
• Knight-Draconis
• Stormdrake Guard

Vanguard Chamber

• Neave Blacktalon
• Lord-Aquilor
• Vanguard-Hunters
• Vanguard-Palladors with Shock Handaxes
• Vanguard-Palladors with Starstrike Javelins
• Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows
• Vanguard-Raptors with Hurricane Crossbows
• Aetherwings

Ruination Chamber

• Ionus Cryptborn
• Iridan the Witness
• Tornus the Redeemed
• Lord-Vigilant on Morrgryph
• Knight-Azyros
• Lord-Vigilant on Gryph-stalker
• Lord-Terminos
• Lord-Veritant
• Prosecutors
• Reclusians

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Endless Spells, Terrain and Start Collecting for Stormcast Eternals

Stormcast Eternals were one of the first armies to get Endless Spells (together with Nighthaunt). The Celestian Vortex is an attacking spell with a debuff of -1 to hit for shooting attacks of enemies within 12″ of it. The Dais Arcanum can be mounted by its summoning wizard who receives some buffs like an increased power level and a 5+ ward. Unfortunately this can only be used by the Knight-Arcanum at release. The Everblaze Comet can inflict mortal wounds on a 6″ radius and a penalty to cast to enemy wizards within 12″.

Le Stormreach Portal is the long-awaited faction terrain for the Stormcast. It is an essential tool for board control as it allows to teleport (within your movement phase) a unit not in combat anywhere on the battlefield (outside 9″ of all enemy units).

Stormcast Eternals have been at the forefront of every Age of Sigmar release so far, including the fourth edition which started with the Skaventide box set. There are few value-added boxes pitting Skaven against Stormcast Eternals. If you are interested in the rats, or can split the boxes with a friend, they are a good purchase.

Le Starter Set is the cheapest and contains a Lord-Veritant, 3 Prosecutors and 5 Liberators. The Ultimate Starter Set adds a Lord-Vigilant on Gryph-Stalker. Finally, if you can still find the original launch box Skaventide, it adds an extra 5 Liberators, 3 Reclusians and a Lord-Terminos.

Le Spearhead box available for the Stormcast is basically a revised version of the third edition starter set with Yndrasta, a Knight-Vexillor, a Stormstrike Chariot, 3 Annihilators (only those with shield, mono-pose) and 10 Vanquishers.

Both Yndrasta Spearhead and the Ultimate Starter Set can be played in the Spearhead format, one taking advantage of an important piece like Yndrasta herself, and the other is a small warband with few bonuses to fill the gap. You can find more information in our Spearhead article.

Armies of Renown and Regiments of Renown in a Stormcast Eternals Army

Stormcast Eternals have three Armies of Renown.

Le Ruination Brotherhood is meant to give a boost to Ruination units. Iridan the Witness has to be included and is the General, and then you can include any other Ruination unit, Liberators, Knight-Questors, and any non-hero Warrior Chamber. They get the same 5+ ward for a single unit a turn from the Ruination battle formation, a 6+ ward for the Warrior units near a Ruination unit, and an ability which can either return a slain model or give +1 attack but zero their control score. Pretty terrible ability, as you can’t control if to activate it or not. All of this, at the cost of sacrificing teleport abilities, magic, manifestations and few good units from the Vanguard chamber…

Le Heroes of the First-forged is a fun list for who wants to play big famous heroes and doesn’t even try to be competitive. It allows to field Lord-Commander Bastian Carthalos as mandatory general, Celestant-Prime, Karazai, Krondys, Yndrasta, any Warrior Hero, Praetors and both type of Annihilators.

Le Draconith Skywing is not on the battletome but in the Army of Renown FAQ available from the Downloads section under Other Rules. It comes from the Dawnbringer Crusades and it allows to field all type of dragons (Ionus, Krondys, Karazai, Knight-Draconis and Stormstrike Guard). It’s a fun list if you want to field only these majestic winged monsters.

Stormcast Eternals also have three Regiments of Renown, all usable in any other Order army.

The Horizon Seekers see a Lord-Aquilor lead a unit of 5 Vanguard-Hunters and a unit of 3 Vanguard Palladors (you can choose either loadout) which can all teleport together with the Lord-Aquilor and benefit from the +1 to hit against a single enemy unit chosen by the Vanguard-Hunters during deployment.

Valnir’s Stormwing are made from a single box: a Knight-Draconis and a single Stormdrake Guard. Once per battle they get +1 to wound and save, but otherwise they are an interesting monster addition with plenty of offensive potential.

Les Blacktalons is the box with Neave and her companions, so that they can be used in any other Order army.

For more details on Armies and Regiments of Renown you can read here.

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Tactics and Final Verdict on the Stormcast Eternals Army Guide

Stormcast Eternals are one of the most beginner-friendly armies available in Age of Sigmar. While this statement is overall true, we need to consider different aspects of it as well.

First of all: if you are just starting, collecting your first 2000 points of Stormcast is easy and relatively cheap thanks to the various starter sets, discounted boxes available from time to time and general availability of these models.

Obtaining 2000 points of a competitive army, can be trickier and would most likely use a subset of all units available, making it more expensive and a bit more repetitive when painting the same models over.

If you are a collector, then this army is a nightmare: there are more than 50 warscrolls and many limited-edition miniatures to scour on the second hand market (as they are not produced anymore). In addition, an entire section of the army, mostly the Sacrosanct units, have been retired and from the 1st of June 2025 relegated to Legends, so not available any more in matched play.

If you want to get into the competitive side fast, it can quickly become a confusing black hole. The idea of a Stormcast army is that you start slowly building your army, learn the rules, build on synergies, practice your painting skills and only then expand on the core of matched play.

There are also different ways to play this army, as there’s so much variety, with many units available to play different roles depending on the preferred playstyle. The most infamous way that had some good results since the second edition, is the one focussed on shooting attacks, also friendly called Shootcast. This army rotates around powerful missile options that can project your power level anywhere on the battlefield, usually including a number of Vanguard-Raptors armed with Longstrike Crossbow.

Then there is the “Hammertime!” type of army with strong high-damaging units like the Stormdrake Guard and the Fulminators. The playstyle here is clear: hit hard and fast, rinse and repeat. Use your concentrated numbers on objectives and wherever you don’t have enough numbers, you can use your top units to breach the enemy lines.

Of course those two are the extremes, in between there are mixed armies. For example, the list that won the 2024 World Championship of Warhammer was a 2 drop: Krondys with a reinforced unit of Prosecutors, one reinforced of Vanguard-Palladors with Javelins, a unit of Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike and one of Vigilors, accompanied by a Lord-Relictor and another reinforced unit of Prosecutors.

Where things get complicated is the choice of leaders. With more than 30 heroes, there are of course some that are more interesting than others. Some of the best options include the Lord-Relictor, a little priest with a +1 to chant (prayers have an interesting mechanic in the fourth edition which gives them an edge compared to spells), Krondys (the best and maybe only viable wizard in the Stormcast army) and his brother Karazai, Ionus and occasionally Bastian Carthalos.

The problem is that the list of heroes may well be finished here. With the Winter battlescroll of 2024 there may be an incentive on having higher level of drops, and some heroes became bonus heroes increasing their chances to appear on the battlefield, but that has yet to be evaluated.

The battle formations focus on one aspect and try to direct the list building. Sentinels of the Bleak Citadel is mostly used to give a ward to a unit of Prosecutors or Reclusians, while the Vanguard Wing enables a full-mobility army with continuous teleports. Extremis units are extremely rare to see (little board control) and the Thunderhead Host misses the mark.

Overall, while there are more than 50 warscrolls, and good grace there has been some cleaning recently, there are only a few which makes sense and even fewer which get played. The culling of many warscrolls and models came just before a re-release of updated sculpts for some of the most iconic units (like the Lord-Relictor and the Liberators) but also with the addition of units which duplicate an already existing role. For example, the Vanguard-Palladors are the perfect Stormcast cavalry. There’s two profiles each with their own role. Then there’s 4 profiles (3 too many) of Dracothian Guard which represent the heavy cavalry. The mounted Evocators are gone, to be replaced with Stormstrike Palladors which add a Warrior cavalry that was not really needed.

One last comment has to be on the aesthetics. The Stormcast silhouette changed in the third edition, for a slimmer and more defined armour with a nice connection to the narrative. What this means in game terms is that you have two different aesthetics depending on the model age. If you are not bothered by it, the old models have still the same base size and can be used for what they were (or proxied like the old Paladins can be used as Reclusians), but some models have not been updated and still use the old design.

Reconnecting to the premise of this section, that Stormcast are a beginner-friendly army but with some considerations, you can easily see now why Stormcast are so good for beginners (wide range, many options, strong units, presence in every phase of the game, easy to collect and to paint) but how they can become more complex really fast (too many options, not all units are easily available, different weapon loadouts with drastic differences in performance, etc.).

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Other resources

Some excellent information that we often use from articles like this one comes from YouTube channels like Warhammer Weekly with Vince Venturella, AoS Coach and of course The Honest Wargamer.

If you are interested in the competitive standpoint, when we talk about statistics, a tremendous effort is done by Rob from the Honest Wargamer, Ziggy and Tsports Network! in the AoS Stat Centre with precious information, constantly kept up to date.

Really good informative material is also collected by Dan from AoS Shorts.

• Our Age of Sigmar Hub
• Faction Overview for Age of Sigmar