It's time to catch up once again with our salty newbies as they take their first tentative steps into the world of Age of Sigmar.

David- Apes of Sigmar

Having previously painted up the Stormcast Eternals from the original Age of Sigmar starter set I had a bit of a head start on the rest of the boys, already having a solid core of units painted and based.

So I've been working away at painting up all the Soul Wars Stormcasts in the same colour scheme and have been making good progress.

The basecoating of the armour is complete and I'm just about to finish off the highlights on blue cloth and headress details. From there it will just be a case of picking out the leather details and applying some washes to the metal areas.

In terms of my first 500 points I wanted to focus on some of the basic battleline units so I could get my head around the mechanics of Age of Sigmar before starting to play with anything complicated.

My first list was:

• Lord Celestant
• 5 Liberators
• 5 Judicators with Bows
• 5 Sequitors

This force had its first outing last week against Andrew's Nighthau­nts and I really should have given someone a call to help deal with his pesky ghosts. The key lesson learnt was don't divide your forces and be sure to kill the full unit of chainrasps as quickly as possible, because if a single one is left alive they'll be summoned back up in no time.

Daniel- The Doom Raiders

Zharkrah’s horns finally pushed through the top of his skull. With the last of the Monrangol tribe defeated the Gods had seen fit to bless Zharkrah with a pair of obsidian black demon horns.
The small warband was picking their way through the remainders for fetishes and preparing survivors for sacrifice, the Dark Gods must be thanked properly for a worthy victory least they turn against you when you most need them.

So far Zharkrah’s warband consisted of ten Warriors but other chieftains had given the blood oath and promised Knights and more warriors.

Zharkrah’s infamy would range out far and wide brining more support to his side perhaps even those who could work the magiks of the dark gods.

Greg- The Chamber Australis

Entering into building a new AoS army, I wasn't immediately sure which way I wanted to go. I’d previously bought a Slaanesh Get Started box and built them but never actually got around to painting them. The release of Soul Wars and the potential of swapping contents with someone made it much easier.

And so, with the new Stormcast Eternals on my painting bench, I sat upon deciding a colour scheme. I wanted something that still shows off the gold hues of the Stormcast armour but also adds a little colour into the mix. Most of the painting I’ve seen have had a blue/red scheme but I really did just want the same old, same old for mine. And then it hit me….what goes with gold? GREEN! Green and gold, amazing colours!

Overall, it's a pretty easy scheme to achieve and because I’ll be batch-painting a lot of the battleline troops, that’s a must. I start with a spray gold which has come from Mitre 10 and once that’s dry, it gets an all over soaking with Reikland Fleshshade before a dry-brush of Auric Gold Armour. The base cloth colours are Warpstone Glow and Rakarth Flesh which are then in turn washed with Army Painter Green and Soft Tone. There’s no dry-brush after that, but I do an edge highlight on the raised edges with Sybarite Green and Pallid Wych Flesh. From there, it’s simply a case of tidying up any bits that I’ve missed or slopped over, finish up the weapons and then basing.

Weapons and other metal like the chains are pretty easy. The silver is Army Painter Chainmail with a Dark Tone wash. The mace shafts are done to add another little burst of colour, they start with Emperors Children Pink and have an Army Painter Red Tone over the top.

I’ll be spending more time on the characters, getting some more detail picked out and a little more personalisation, but for now I’m pretty happy.

FOR SIGMAR!!!!

Paul- The Krusty Oldies

The first five hundred points..... in the slow grow the first step is to make a 500 point force, looking at the army building I need to have a leader and two battleline units.

Too lead this force I decided to go with a necromancer, cheap in points but good with Magic’s he is a staple for an undead force.

I want a good solid unit to make up a big chunk of the force, zombies being cheap makes them a perfect option so 30 of them join the ranks.

For the second battleline I am going for a fast flanking unit, five Dire Wolves should fit the bill.

To round out the force, a support unit is called for, and what better then a corpse cart with a balefire braizer to help boost the battleline units.

Of course I still have a few points left so a cairn wraith is added to help deal with pesky enemy characters.

I hope to give this little force a trail this weekend so I will let you know how I get on.

Darren- Fraternal Idoneth Soul Heisters

I have been working on my 500ish point list, still going for a hard and fast striking soul stealing theme!

• Akhelian King (General)
• 1 unit of Akhelian Morrsarr Guard
• 1 unit of Akhelian Ishlaen Guard

I am no expert painter but I have painted up my Akhelian King and I am very happy with the way he looking!

I started with airbrushing the mount with Flayed One Flesh for the underbelly, Wild Rider red for the base scales and blending it to troll slayer orange and using Mephiston Red for the fins with a Bloodletter Glaze finish.

For the King I have painted the armour with Stormhost Silver, then using Coelia Greenshade and finishing with Guilliman blue glaze. The skin I used a base of Kislev Flesh then a Seraphim Sepia shade and highlighting with flayed one flesh.

Andrew- Ain't afraid of no ghosts

Soul Wars is here and the models look great. This is my first experience with Games Workshop's Easy to Build range. I heard they lived up to their name, but I didn't realise how true that was.

I was able to assemble the models without a single drop of glue. But, I did go back later and use some to better secure some of the weaker connections. The part numbering also allowed me to build the models without instructions. My only concern is it's harder to build the models in sub-assemblies, which may make painting trickier.

Speaking of painting, the Nighthaunt models look fragile, but they're deceptively robust. I've dropped a few onto the carpet without a single break. The only issue I had was an arm breaking while still on the sprue. The drop of plastic glue fixed that breakage in seconds.

With my models assembled, it's time to sort out my first 500pt list. I've got two Soul Wars starter sets, the old Tormented Spirits boxed set and a metal Tomb Banshee to draw from.

I used Warhammer Community's War­scroll Builder to come up with two options:

Option 1

• Cairn Wraith
• Tomb Banshee
• Lord Executioner
• 3 Spirit Hosts
• 5 Hexwraiths

Option 2

• Guardian of Souls
• Lord Executioner
• 20 Chainrasp Hordes
• 3 Spirit Hosts

Option 1 is mostly painted, but I want to use more models from Soul Wars. I'll begin with Option 2, then add in the older models later on.

Model assembly and list-building is only part of the game, of course. Models need paint, so let's take a look at what I've got so far.

I've kept my scheme as simple as possible, while making sure I still use at least three colours on each model.

Here's how I achieved the spectral colours:

1. Prime with Army Painter White
2. Base coat with P3 Arcane Blue
3. Wash with Army Painter Green Tone
4. Drybrush P3 Menoth White Highlight
5. Wraith cowls get a coat of P3 Cryx Bane Base and highlighted to taste.

The effect may appear a little uneven, but I put that down to the ethereal nature of the units. Sorted.

Alternate Paint Colours:
P3 Arcane Blue: Citadel Baharroth Blue or Army Painter Toxic Mist
P3 Menoth White: Citadel Ceramite White or Army Painter Brainmatter Beige
P3 Cryx Bane Base Citadel Dryad Bark or Army Painter Necromance Cloak

How's your Age of Sigmar project coming along? Let us know in the comments below.