Armies on Parade 2017: Warhammer Age of Sigmar

Yesterday, Warhammer Red House hosted the Age of Sigmar Portion of Armies on Parade 2017. With a decent turnout of 5 participants, I think we’re well on the way to a good, growing AOS community in Singapore. I’ll be posting my opinions on some of the boards below, and I’ll do both what was good about the boards, as well as some possible improvements. If there are any mistakes in what I wrote, please feel free to get in touch with me and I’ll make the updates.

First up is Paul’s Orks! Or should I say Orruks? (I’ll just say Orks) Regardless, his Realm of Battle board was quite imposing, with some sculpting additions to the board. When chatting with him, he revealed that the steps were foam, and the ‘dragon bones’ were a core of wire and newspaper (or was it aluminium foil? I forget), with some epoxy over the top to allow him to sculpt the details. I think the bones were sculpted pretty well, and his board was an improvement compared to 2016. Like 2016 though, he had quite a few subtle conversions, like the shoulderplates of his Orruks, which was impressive.

In addition, some models, like his Shaman, was painted neatly, and his Orks were an interesting alternate colour scheme. Most people must have felt the same way as well, as Paul was awarded the prizes for Best Painted, Monsters and Machines, Themed, and Scenic Board.

That being said though, there would be a few things that I hope to see improved in the next year. All his Orks were definitely base coated and shaded, but an additional level of highlighting would have served to neaten up and make the models ‘pop’ more, especially with the centerpiece models.

Moving from Orruks (Orks) to more Orruks (Orks), we have Han Yu’s first army in the traditional yellow colour scheme that we see more AOS Orks in nowadays. His colour scheme was definitely eye-popping, and I appreciated his terrain (the gradient on the portals were pretty good). I think he also spent quite a lot of time on his leaders and centerpiece models.

That being said, yellow is a really tricky colour to work with, and while Our Lord Duncan’s motto of ‘two thin coats’ usually holds true, I think it’s possible that a bit more work would be needed to achieve a smooth clean yellow for the models. Either basing with a light yellowish brown that covers well, or multiple thin coats over a light/yellow primer. I’m not a GW expert when it comes to their paints, but I would guess maybe XV-88 as the basecoat? Or maybe Averland Sunset/Zandri Dust as the Spray. (Do the GW paints work as a primer? I have no idea.)

Next is Harry Yang’s Khorne Army. I think there’s a lot of potential in this army, especially considered it’s his first. Some of his models were very well done, with some neat edge highlighting.

It’s only too bad some of his bigger models (ie Bloodthirster and terrain) weren’t done to the same standard are his Khorne Juggernauts. If they were, he would’ve definitely been a strong contender for best painted.

 I really love Jose’s choice for how he displayed his Wood Elves (ahem, Sylvaneth). I’m always a fan of interesting choices and creativity, and realizing that the jigsaw playmat things are 1’x1′, would fit together really well and be modular to boot is a definite stroke of genius. I guess the terrain would flake off unless you found some way to keep the board rigid, but if you intend to toss the terrain after AOP (which is a definite possibility in Singapore), then this is a great, cheap alternative.

Jose’s colour scheme is also really nice, with a pale desert sand keeping in theme with his light birch colour of his Sylvaneth. It contrasts very well with the green, blue and purple accents of his army. I only wish the purple was more prevalent. It lends almost an air of lavender to the army, and having more lavender blossoms around the treemen (for example) would have been a great way to tie the terrain and the army together.

Lastly, between the technical paint, cork and moss it’s evident that he put a lot of work on his basing, and the extra bit of effort to clean up his bases (probably the same earth tone as the agrellan earth, or something slightly darker), would put his minis over the top.

Last, but definitely not least, is Leopold’s Stormcast. I say definitely not least because he won best First Army and Best Youngbloods! Granted, the Youngbloods was a shoo-in because he was the only one, but considering 4 out of the 5 armies displayed were their first, it’s safe to say that competition for First Army was hard fought. I have to admit that I myself voted for him for First Army because I was impressed by the level of effort and thought he put into his army.

For example, while his painting is admittedly pretty basic, there’s already humongous attention to detail and effort being exhibited. His colours and shading are neat, and the snowfall on the bases are mirrored on the minis. I’m also especially impressed by the work he did to make his army his own. For example, the goblins were converted to join Sigmar’s cause (don’t ask me why but it’s cool), and he even 3d-printed his own terrain! Like the other armies, he could definitely benefit from some more advanced techniques like highlights, and I kind of wish there was more definition for the board (it looks kind of unfinished since it’s unpainted), but I would’ve been so happy and proud if this was my first army when I started out. And at fifteen no less! We should be seeing much better stuff from him in the future.

All in all, I’m very happy with the potential that this year’s AOS Armies on Parade is showing. Considering that some of the people who were planning to come down for the AOS Armies on Parade couldn’t make it, and considering 4 out of the 5 boards for AOS this year were their first armies, I’m looking forward to some jaw dropping stuff come Armies on Parade 2018, and I think we’ll definitely see more AOS being played in Singapore.