Skaventide - Painting the Stormcast Vigilant Brotherhood Spearhead

A brand new edition of Age of Sigmar is once again upon us! With this new edition comes “Spearhead”, a faster and more accessible way to play Age of Sigmar using army starter boxes available for most factions.

Within the brand new Skaventide box (kindly provided to us by Games Workshop) you get access to two brand new Spearhead forces (and more!). These Spearheads are for the conniving, skittering Skaven and the towering, stoic Stormcast Eternals. In this article, I'll be sharing my experience in painting up the Stormcast Eternal “Vigilant Brotherhood” Spearhead.

Custom Stormhost Background

A bespoke paint scheme means a home-brewed Stormhost, naturally!

The stormhost of "Azyr's Tempest" largely operate within Hammerhal Ghyra, where they support other stormhosts in driving back Chaos from the woodlands and mires throughout the Realm of Life. Once the Vermindoom struck and word came that Hammerhal Aqsha was experiencing a cataclysmic siege, Azyr's Tempest, led by Lord-Vigilant Contra atop her Gryph-stalker, bound through the central realm gate to lend support to those in need within the Realm of Fire. Now, fighting amidst the tumult of the Skaven emergence, unstable Warpstone littering the battlefield amongst the dead, these warriors of Azyr do all they can to not just halt the Skaventide, but drive it back to the hellscape from whence it came.

Painting Planning and Approach

I've painted a couple of Stormcast warbands previously for Warhammer Underworlds and Warcry, but never sunk considerable time into how I'd like them to look by the end - these have usually been very rushed affairs. Now, thanks to Games Workshop sending over the Skaventide box, I wanted to put some real thought into how I wanted these models to look on the table. I wanted to veer far away from heavy metallics as I wanted something more visually striking. I also knew that I wanted the bases to be quite dark to really give that sense of contrast to brightly-coloured armour.

Quickly, I settled on primarily white armour inspired by the Knights Excelsior stormhost, as I've found that with the right methods this can get models done exceptionally quickly and can be very eye-catching up close and from a distance. In order to keep the armour vibrant but ensure depth I used a thinned down amount of Pro Acryl Black Wash (1:7 with Lahmian Medium) all over the white so that the recesses were apparent, emphasised further by the zenithal white spray completed prior.

Similar to the "Sons of the Pheonix" Space Marine chapter from Warhammer 40K, I went for pinky-purple pauldrons and details to really pop-out against the white. Plus, I've always had a soft spot for the paint "Screamer Pink" and use it any chance that I can get. With this, I then decided that metallic trim would be necessary and decided to give Thrash Metal from Scale75 a proper go as I haven't had great experience with Retributor Armour previously and have used Runelord Brass to absolute death on other armies. The Thrash Metal was quite de-saturated amidst the white and so a wash of Reikland Fleshshade warmed it up nicely whilst ensuring some depth remained.

With that, some Black Legion Contrast paint was used on some of the lining/under-suits, Cygor Brown on any belts/leather and then a variety of metals on the weapons to ensure they looked suitable shiny yet worn in the hands of their masters. However, what really makes this army pop is the use of Frostheart Contrast paint her and there. I've used this on any flames and I really do think that it's not only helped to tie some units together but gives a beautiful visual distinction, too.

Liberators

The humble Liberators have had a tremendous glow-up. Less blocky in shape, but still the truly stalwart of Sigmar, these new models are a joy to paint and can be knocked-out in record time thanks to the simplicity of the sculpts. The perfect level of detail to keep them interesting, but not verbose enough to be intimidating. I could paint tens of these and never get bored!

It was with these Liberators that I first determined that some light weathering would be needed towards the end of each paint job. For this, I simply sponged and stippled some Rhinox Hide all over the models. This, despite being so trivial, really elevates the models visually, giving that extra 10% at the very end.

Lord-Vigilant on Gryph-stalker

The centrepiece of the Stormcast Spearhead within Skaventide, this kit was a beastly undertaking. The only real option being to build the entire model and then painting means that the lack of sub-assembles also made this an additional challenge. Ensuring that you go for an army-wide scheme that isn't too complicated will save you headaches here. Additionally, putting more effort into the Lord-Vigilant rather than the Gryph-stalker is a wise call here as that'll be where the eye is naturally drawn. Where possible, it's definitely worth taking your time here.

I decided to go for earthy browns and bright greens to try and tie the Gryph-charger into the Ghyran backstory I'd cooked-up. I'm happy with the colours but it's clear after anything more than a glance that I rushed the mount and will likely go back and tidy it up sometime in the future. However, considering how little time I put into this entire model, I'm satisfied with the results.

Prosecutors

Possibly my favourite models in the whole Stormcast half of Skaventide, the new Prosecutor models are a massive visual upgrade compared to their original release. The easy option here is to pay attention to the wings as these are easily the most prominent aspect of these models. Leaning on the white-heavy bulk of my paint scheme, the chance to use Frostheart Contrast paint here to really make those wings pop was too tempting to ignore. This, combined with some airbrushed Corvus Black on the tips of the wings got these models to a place that I am exceptionally happy with.

Lord-Veritant with Gryph-crow

Ah, cloaks. Always cloaks and capes. I HATE painting cloaks and capes. Still, they must be done! Again, the easier scheme that I opted for helped to make painting the Lord-Veritant much easier than it could have been. The Screamer Pink helps to pop-out details that could otherwise be lost whilst also using a little more Ork Flesh Contrast paint one the gem stones in order to tie into their Ghyran-based background. Yet another chance to use Frostheart Contrast paint meant that I could have the flames on this model really pop-out, too. Whilst the Gryph-crow is a little unimaginative, it was nice to paint a primarily dark model after so much white. Juxtaposition helps him to stand-out in a sea of bright colours. Although, his eyes are painted red and a tiny dot of orange here will help those eyes to really pierce the darkness of this paint job.

Final Steps

I decided on my dark basing scheme early on and settled on Vallejo Dark Earth texture paint. This, followed by a wash of more Black Wash from Pro Acryl and then drybrushed Deepkin Flesh gave me the neutral tones that I was after in order to really push the white and pinky-purple armour. Followed by some Scorched Tufts from the Army Painter, I was delighted to see everything come together for this Spearhead! I did cut some corners to ensure I could get this project done in time. For instance, the Prosecutors have additional stonework for their bases - I omitted these and placed tufts over the peg slots in order to save time. In opposition to this, the small stone/debris for the Liberators gave me a great chance to try some Warpstone effect! For this, I sprayed the rocks silver, gave them two coats of Warpstone Glow Contrast paint and then drybrushed them very, very lightly with a bright yellow. These give a nice bit of visual interest to some of the bases and really helps to build that association that these brave warriors are fighting off the hordes of Skaven that threaten Sigmar's people.

Wrap-up

Overall, the Spearhead offering for the Stormcast in Skaventide is an ideal bundle. The model count is relatively small, totalling 11 models, and the level of detail across these units varies from minimal to considerable, yet never straying too far one way or the other. With an approachable scheme and a plan in mind, this Spearhead can be tackled in very little time whilst all looking stupendous when on the table together. For once, I'm excited to field an army that will look to defend the cities of order, rather than lay them to ruin.

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