Games Workshop’s latest subscription magazine service released on the 15th of February, and on the surface it appears to be pretty darn good value for money. But is it? Having spent £2.99 on the first issue, and a whole morning crunching numbers, I am here to report my findings to you, so you can decide if you think it’s worth subscribing.
What is Stormbringer and how much is it?
Stormbringer is a subscription magazine in which you get said magazine and either models or some kind of miniature paraphernalia every week for a total of 80 issues. You can either go out and try to buy every issue as it comes out, or you can subscribe and get four issues bundled together every four weeks. The models themselves are advertised as building to two impressive armies, but the truth is a little more complicated than that. Let’s crunch some numbers shall we? (All of these will be in pounds because Stormbringer is only out in the UK at the time of writing)
- The standard subscription comes in at £710.20
- The premium subscription includes four extra issues and kits, and costs £868.20
- There is a cheeky extra cost in the small print: you automatically get five binders for your collection that total £43.96
That’s a lot of money, even if it is spread out over 80 weeks, but what are you actually getting for all this? A lot, is the answer. Remember when I said it was more complicated than just two armies; well that’s because you’re actually getting a little bit of six armies, disguised under the banners of Order and Destruction. Get ready people, this is a lot of stuff. If it’s written in italics then it’s part of the premium subscription.
Stormcast Eternals
Bastian Carthalos – £27.50
Gardus Steel Soul – £24
Lord-Imperitant with Gryph Hound – £65 (only available in the Harbinger starter set)*
Lord-Aquilor – £26
Knight-Judicator with Gryph Hounds – £21
Knight-Arcanum** – £32 (only available in the Warrior starter set)
Vindictors – £32.50 (come in boxes of 10, sold in 2 issues of 5)* **
Vigilors – £37.50 (come in boxes of 10, sold as a 5 man unit)
Vanquishers – £37.50 (come in boxes of 10, sold as a 5 man unit)
Stormstrike Chariot – £30
Stormdrake Guard – £70
Praetors – £30 (unique model available through magazine)*
Gryph-Hounds – £18
Xandire’s Truthseekers – 47.50 (only available in Rivals of Harrowdeep)
Krondys – £90
Total = £498.50 or £588.50
*Can be found in the Harbinger starter set
** Can be found in the Warrior starter set
Sylvaneth
Arch-Revenant – £24
Branchwych – £80 (only available in Vanguard box)*
Spirit of Durthu – £42.50*
Tree-Revenants – £30*
Spite-Revenants – £30
Yithlari’s Guardians – £16
Total = £222.50
*available in Vanguard: Sylvaneth
Kharadron Overlords
Arkanaut Admiral – £18
Endrinmaster in Dirigible Suit – £24
Grundstok Thunderers – £30
Thundrik’s Profiteers – £16
Grundstok Gunhauler – £32.50
Aetheric Navigator – £18
Skywardens – £30
Total = £88 or £168.50
Kruleboyz
Swampboss Skumdrekk – £35
Killaboss with Stab-grot – £32.50 (only available in the Warrior starter set)*
Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot – £65 (only available in the Harbinger starter set)**
Gutrippaz – £32.50* **
Hobgrot Slittaz x 2 – 32.50 (two units)**
Man-Skewer Boltboyz – £30
Beast-Skewer Killbow – £21
Marshcrawla Sloggoth – £32.50
Da Kunnin Krew – £47.50 (only available in Rivals of Harrowdeep)
Total = £361
*Can be found in the Harbinger starter set
** Can be found in the Warrior starter set
Ironjawz
Megaboss – £26
Warchanter – £20
Ardboys – £36 (come in boxes of 15, sold as a 5 man unit)
Ironskull’s Boyz – £16 (No longer available)*
Gordrakk, Fist of Gork – £75
Total = £98* or £173
*Estimated price based on other standalone Underworlds Warbands
Gloomspite Gitz
Skragrott the Loonking – £24
Loonboss – £18*
Loonboss on Giant Cave Squig – £24
Fungoid Cave-Shaman – £24
Shootas – £26*
Boingrot Bounderz – £32.50 (come in boxes of 10, sold as 5 man unit)*
Squig Herd – £30
Sneaky Snufflers – £26
Loonsmasha Fanatics – £26
Aleguzzler Gargant – £42.50
Zarbag’s Gitz – £16 (No longer available)**
Mollog’s Mob – £16 (No longer available)**
Dankhold Troggoth – £42.50
Rockgut Troggoths – £36*
Total = £305** or £383.50
*Available in Vanguard: Gloomspite Gitz
**Estimated price based on other standalone Underworlds Warbands
This is just the models, before we get to the value of the other stuff, and already we’ve got some things to unpack with this. The most obvious point is that if you fork out the extra £2 for the premium subscription you will get an absolutely ridiculous amount of value; no two ways about it, this is a lot of plastic. Now if you buy the savings boxes where you can (or are forced to in the case of the starter boxes), the value does decrease but not by an amount that makes the subscription more expensive, but it is still worth pointing out.
It is also very important to point out that these aren’t “two grand armies” as advertised. The majority of models definitely are Stormcast and (hilariously) Gloomspite Gitz, but then you have these dribs and drabs of other armies that you’ll struggle to use or may not even want. And yes, Kruleboyz and Ironjawz are absolutely two separate armies because you should in no way be running Big WAAAGH! Allies are an option but I do worry that people who are very new to the hobby, the people this is aimed at, will be disappointed when they find out that there are limitations on what they can and cannot use.
This isn’t all, by the way, you will also be getting the following extra stuff:
Paints
Contrast x 7 – £33.25
Shade x 1 – £4.75
Technical x 1 – £4.75
Retributor Armour – £3.70
Base x 24 – £66
Total = £112.45
Assorted Extras
Clippers – £30
Plastic Glue – £4.75
Mouldline Remover – £15
Large Base Brush – £5.40
Large Dry Brush – £6.25
Medium Shade Brush – £4.85
Small Base Brush – £4.75
Texture Spreader – £5.15
Mug – £12.99
Gutrippaz Boss – £21 (no longer available)
Total = £110.14
There is also an assortment of terrain which is hard to place. Most of it seems to come from the Realmscape expansion set, but there’s also a piece from the largest starter set and what appears to be the old Underworlds terrain. All in all, a safe estimate on this would be £60…ish
So, tallying it all up, how much is this stuff actually worth? Well…
- The total for the standard subscription is £1855.59
- The total for the premium subscription is £2179.59
You don’t need me to tell you that’s massive savings. Is it worth it though? If you’re new to the hobby, then absolutely. The drip feeding of models and accessories is a great introduction to Warhammer, and the somewhat grab-bag of models will definitely help you find what you like (unless that’s Chaos or Death obviously). If you’re already a hobbyist though, that’s more debatable. Odds are you already have what you want, but if you have a friend or multiple and can divvy the goodies out amongst you then I definitely recommend it. I wonder if I can get the Handful of Dice office to go in on this with me?
Did you find this post useful? Thinking of subscribing to Stormbringer yourself? Let us know in the comments! If you want to support the site you could always tip us a bit of change to feed our plastic crack habit, or get some great deals on wargaming and table top gaming products through our Element Games referral link. They have great offers on Age of Sigmar and a wide range of other Warhammer and accessories if you want to add to your army. Make sure you’re following us on Instagram to stay up to date and get involved in our community by sharing pictures of your projects with us!
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