Stormcast Eternals

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"To punish the oppressors of humanity is clemency; to forgive them is cruelty."

-Maximilien Robespierre

The Stormcast Eternals are the primary type of soldiers used by Sigmar in order to fight Chaos during the Age of Sigmar, and thus are the posterboys of the new line.

Fans of Warhammer consider them something akin to space marines given their similarities in fluff (An elite military force of engineered super-soldiers, personally designed by a god-ruler to be his warriors to combat unfathomably terrifying Lovecraftian horrors that normal men would simply despair at.) and model design (Namely thick/all-enclosing armor with heug pauldrons; Because any god ruler knows that the size of one's pauldrons is directly proportional to how awesome they are.), often using the term "Sigmarines" to refer to them. Additionally, given their non-spaceborne nature, they can also be hilariously referred to as "Ground Marines". Two more strikes for (or against them, depending on your view) are the fact that some of them have crossbows that resemble bolters and the winged ones resemble some of the Blood Angels models.

What are the Stormcast Eternals?

"THEY ARE THE GROUND MARINES!!!!!!!!!"

They are made from mortal warriors taken away by the God-King Sigmar and augmented with mystic energies and given fancy new weapons and armour made of Sigmarite. The universal trait to all the Eternals is that they opposed Chaos whenever it appeared, though certain chambers work on details like faith or vengeance.

Curiously enough, Eternals can be both male and female and not necessarily human, although the only named characters presented so far were originally male humans and a single male ~~undead skeleton~~ from the realm of Shyish - turns out he was a Prince that came from the same place as Tarsus Bullheart. Considering that the process of making a Stormcast is more mystical than any genetic modifications and that the person in question will not eventually remember who they are in the end, it is very likely that any non-Chaos mortal could become one. The only real specific that is considered is that the undead tend to become Lord-Relictors, who are able to see the spirits and thus are able to anchor his kin to Sigmar's Realm of Azyr. That said, however, the Eternal part of their name is rather relative: Their souls are constantly coveted by Nagash because he's too greedy and the supply of Sigmarite is limited, with each reforging taking more supplies and more of the Stormcast's memories are lost.

Aside from stomping Chaos, their main goal is uncovering the Realmgates: Portals to other Realms. By securing them, they gain another route back to Azyr or to any of the other realms, so a small retinue of Stormcasts has to stay behind to guard it.

Rank and Military

When each mortal is reforged, they are immediately put into a strenuous training ritual meant to hone them into superhuman hammer-swinging engines of holy war. Once the big man is satisfied, he then groups them into Stormhosts, the equivalents of Space Marine Chapters, and there they train with each other in a massive coliseum that Malerion gifted him back when there was an alliance. These stormhosts are then broken into Chambers (Companies) with each having several conclaves organized by specialty.

Lords Celestant: The top dogs in the chambers, these are the mightiest of heroes among the Chambers, gifted a larger portion of Sigmar's power in order to become great leaders. Some opt to fun with hammers and swords, while other find Dracoths (Giant dragons that shoot lightning).
Lords Relictor: Usually undead and wizards, these guys are able to see the spiritual realm, the souls that swirl around. Their job is to use their skeletal relics to anchor the Stormcasts to Azyr so their souls don't accidentally end up Daemon chow or part of Nagash's kindgom of skellingtons.
Lords Castellant: These guys are support-based, their tests involving conquering their fears. If successful, they get a pet Gryph-hound and a special warding lantern that illuminates his fellow Sigmarines and incinerates Chaos.
Knights Heraldor: These guys have giant horns that shoot lightning. Because STORMS.
Knights Vexillor: Unlike the other jobs, these guys are actually chosen in a contest. A shitton of Stormcasts enter the Coliseum, smack each other to not-quite death (The Coliseum makes sure everyone leaves refreshed because...Malerion didn't have a mood swing when he made it). The winner gets to hold an awesome standard.
Knights Azyros: The closets thing to Scout Leaders, these guys have lanterns to help illuminate the realms so Sigmar can see all the way from his palace. Also, the lanterns burn chaos.
Knights Venator: Shootier flying Sigmarines, these guys are master archers with magical arrows and own pet Star-Eagles.

Liberators: The ground-floor. The goons. The average Liberator is a walking tank, capable of wielding either melee weapons or shields to protect his pals from anything deadlier.
Judicators: Liberators who traded in their shields and hammers for bows (plain or crossbows). Some even get lucky and get a mega-bow that fires thunderbolts. THE BOWS ARE MAGIC! YEEEEEEEEEEAH!!!!!!!
Prosecutors: They're like Liberators, but they got wings. They tend to spearhead the assault with their speed, throwing either magical returning hammers or magical returning spears. Or they could just smash with said weapons.
Retributors: Massive piles of Sigmarite who serve in the Paladin Chambers. These guys carry massive hammers to squash things.
Protectors: Despite the name, these Paladins only wield glaives. Glaives that are actually capable of generating magical force fields.
Decimators: Paladins with fuckhueg axes.

Notable Stormhosts

Hammers of Sigmar: The first Stormhost. They wield Blue and Gold and pride themselves on being the posterboys of AoS
Hallowed Knights: The fourth Stormhost . They wear silver and blue and are pretty zealous about killing Chaos. They're known for their DETERMINATION and incredible faith in Sigmar, making them the ideal choice for jobs like wading through Nurgle's horrifying and disgusting kingdoms despite all the filth and plagues that pollute the lands. This Stormhost is in general one of the more popular Hosts, with their metal armors and very faith-based culture.
Celestial Vindicators: The Sixth Stormhost . They're vengeful motherfuckers who declared vengeance back as mortals and thus are united by their grudges. Their armor is torquise, so the blood reaaaaally stands out.
Celestial Knights: A Stormhost that is on a constant crusade to bring the light of Sigmar to all benighted lands. Pretty much these guys.
Lions of Sigmar: Rocking the bronze gold and purple look there is little known about this Stormhost save for their heraldry and thunderous roar in battle, also equivalent to this Chapter.
Knights of the Aurora: This Stormhost are claimed to strike more quickly and are masters of rapid assault and sporting the white armor with green and gold trimmings and has the need for speed.
Knights Excelsior: This Stormhost run around in white armour with gold trimmings, not unlike the Knights of the Aurora but without the green. These guys are said to have built up a fierce reputation for totally massacring their enemies so brutally that even other Stormhosts think its a bit excessive. Their claim to fame is that they stepped up to bail the Hallowed Knights out when a Lord of Plagues was about to capture Alarielle, with their Knight-Azyros, a pretty fly badass called Diomar, personally charging the powerful Nurgle lord.
Astral Templars: If you're tired of holy knights, go no further; these fuckers have taken to like it in the Realm of Ghur, and has become one with the beasts. Their design is brown, metal and black, and their armor is adorned with pelts, bloody markings and other tribal stuff. The Space Wolves the the Hammer's Utramarines, but with less wolfs and more barbarians.

Notable Fan-created Stormhosts

Forgesworn Eternals: A Duardin Stormhost wearing silver and red.

Notable Stormcasts

Ghal Maraz, The Celestant-Prime: The alpha, the first Eternal ever forged by Sigmar. It's unknown just who he might be, but it's said he was a mighty king from the past (making people immediately guess either Settra or Karl Franz. Turns out he's neither). Despite how much power he put into it, the process was still incomplete, so Sigmar decided to put him in a chamber to preserve the project because he spent too much as it is. However, once he recovered Ghal Maraz, he was able to finish the process and get a giant golden angel to join the ranks. GW was then struck by retardation and instead of trying to make some cool name, just named him after his hammer, in canon the guy just don't remember who he was so he just decided to use the name of his weapon.
Vandus Hammerhand: The first named hero among the Eternals, a Lord-Celestant of the Hammers of Sigmar who rides a Dracoth. Apparently, he once fought off against a Khornate Lord known as Ghorgos Khul as a mortal and almost died before being forged, and instead became a giant gold-plated badass instead of just a human one. He's considered the hero of the Starter Set and is responsible for finding Ghal Maraz.
Thostos Bladestorm: Footslogging Lord Celestant of the Celestial Vindicators. Impulsive jackass. Died a couple of times so now Nagash has part of his soul, he still wants to give Chaos a beating. During a recent battle with a Chaos Lord Varash, Thostos was hit with extremely powerful lighting bolt which triggered a powerful reforging and the results of it was the return of his memories, emotions and a name he once was - Prince Caeran of Wolf Keep. Apparently he is now the first Stormcast to be renewed, healed and with fresh purpose but not the last.
Tarsus Bullheart: Footslogging Lord Celestant of the Hallowed Knights, leader of a warrior chamber named after him and protagonist of the Realmgate Wars audio-books. Broody guy who's obsessed with duty and lets his hammer do the talking for him. (SPOILERS AHEAD): Once a human from the realm of Shyish called Tarsem, he lived in a place called Helstone. During the Age of Chaos he fought alongside Mannfred Von Carstein but, Mannfred being Mannfred, Mannfred abandoned them to save his own skin and Tarsem was taken by Sigmar and reforged. Now the Stormcast Tarsus, Sigmar sends him and some of his warriors to the realm of Shyish to find Nagash and parley. Along the way they find Mannfred, now a prisoner of the Khornates. They free him in exchange for his guidance and assistance in finding Nagash. After entering the underworld and an incident with the doorman, Arkhan, Nagash appears before them. This goes as well as you'd expect. After being flung across the chamber, Tarsus attacked Nagash to distract him in a successful last-ditch attempt to free the slain Stormcast Eternals' souls from Nagash's clutches. Tarsus was then killed by a VERY pissed off Nagash, who captured his soul and planned to torture as many of Sigmar's secrets from him as he could.
Tornus the Hero: Once known as Torlug the Despised servant of Nurgle and Lord of Plagues, his soul was redeemed by Sigmar at the height of the last battle at Blackstone Summit in the realm of Ghyran while killed by Ghal Maraz, The Celestant-Prime. During his brief life as a mortal, Tornus was a righteous believer in Sigmar and his faith was unmatched by those that fought with him during the Age of Chaos against the nurgle invaders. At some point he was captured and left in a pit of filth and due to his stubbornness, faith and pride lived for many weeks only to succumb to the lies that Nurgle spoke to him during those months of captivity. Even then his soul, although corrupted and twisted, held out a spark of hope that his faith in Sigmar was not a lie and was rewarded with a chance for redemption as a Knight-Venator in services of the Hallowed Knights.

Gallery

Compare and contrast
A formation of Stormcast Eternals. Of course, GW had to use gold, blue, and white, so that we'd know they're the greatest of them all.
GROUND MARINES! CHARGE!
Only thing missing are pseudo-bolters and they're officially Sigmarines.
This looks oddly familiar
Ground Marine Assault Squads
In the grim darkness of the far past, there is only war
Ground Marines vs Chaos Ground Marines.
Victory for the God Empero-..err, God-King of man!
A Ground Marine Lord Relictor
The venerable Lord Celestant Boreale, giving one of his glorious speeches
One of these is not like the others...