White Dwarf 383 - November 2011

So the new Necrons have finally arrived and this months White Dwarf is the showcase piece for the latest updated army in the 40k universe. As you could probably guess before even thinking of opening the magazine, a very large portion of its contents is given over to showing us what the new Necrons are all about and what new models we can look forward to seeing/modelling/painting/despairing at depending on how you look at it.

Aside from seeing how awesome the new Necrons are, what else is in the magazine this month? In all honesty, not that much else really. A couple of quick tacticas for the Lord of the Rings Infantry and for the Ogre Kingdoms in Warhammer Fantasy.

Then we have a couple of articles of a passing interest, Armies on Parade which features an interesting looking Ork warband with some nifty looking conversions, and an Army Workshop on painting Sisters of Battle, which reminds me of something I really want to get round to doing for this blog.

All in all, not a bad copy of White Dwarf for this month, hypes up the interest in the new Necrons and shows off the new models. In a surprise twist to the 'new' armies appearing in a battle report the Necrons even lost to a coalition of Ultramarines and Eldar, with the Space Marines still being promoted as the Golden Boys of the Galaxy, just as they should be!

And as a signing off note, I really like the new model for the Necron Overlord, as seen below:

The Generous Games Workshop

Following on from my complaints in the last of the White Dwarf reviews I did for this blog, Games Workshop have apparently been very accommodating to my lack of support for their new shipping policy for the magazine.

After telling GW that I no longer wished to be subscribed to a magazine I could often buy in the shops 3 or 4 days before it arrived on my doorstep, they offered me their sincerest apologies, a partial refund on the subscription cost and a voucher for the webstore as a gesture of goodwill.

What I received as part of this goodwill amazed me, leading me to believe that GW cannot be as much of a money hungry organisation as one could assume by their price rises of recent times, and that good souls do reside in their employment. Either that or I just got incredibly lucky. Whichever way, I am very happy with what I could invest in following one complaint.

So, hopefully sometime in the near and war torn future, I will have a Daemon Prince and Defiler ready to join my Slaaneshi Army, sonic weapons to kit out my noise marines so they are WYSIWYG, and buildings aplenty to provide cover and terrain for any battles I ever carry out at home. Very much looking forward to Christmas so I can get all this kit out and put it all together. I will of course keep this blog updated as and when the modelling and painting begins.

And even having cancelled White Dwarf I still had delivered the new issue for me to be able to read on a long plane journey across to Cyprus. Games Workshop, I salute your generosity.

White Dwarf 382 - October 2011

I have had a subscription for White Dwarf for the most part of the last year. For the last couple of months the issue has been delivered no earlier than 5 days after the issue has been available on the shelf of my local newsagent. Having contacted Games Workshop for clarification this is the response:


Just so you are aware we have had a change in service to the way in which White Dwarf Subscriptions work. Whereas before your subscription would be posted out at the beginning of the week before release this has changed and now been moved to the Friday before the release so it arrives with you the week after the release. 

So there we are folks, if you have the subscription you will not be seeing it before it is released in the shops, but hopefully you will see it in the week after its released. Bit rubbish, and makes you seriously consider whether the subscription is worth it, given the the magazine is showing signs of turning back to pushing of whatever new army has been released in Warhammer or 40k.

Anyway, that's my moaning over with, we can now see what's going on in this months issue. Unsurprisingly, given the release of Dreadfleet recently, a large majority of the issue is given over to the new game from Games Workshop. Personally I have little interest in the game, but there is a large amount of information that would be very interesting for any of you out there who want to pursue the game. From an introduction to the game to various tactica you can use when playing to a full on battle report, there is quite the information treasure chest for those interested in Dreadfleet.

The Dreadfleet intro section is followed by modelling and painting tutorials for assembling a Wyvern and painting Mournfang Cavalry. This is followed by rules for the scrolls of binding for Thundertusks, Mournfangs and Stonehorn.

Now for the 40k players, Sisters of Battle commanders especially, comes the section of new Battle Missions for the Adepta Sororitas. The three missions shown in the issue are 'Defend the Shrine', 'Recover the Relics' and 'Purge the Heretic'. All missions look like great fun, with the latter two easily adaptable to suit any armies you may fancy pitting against each other. 'Defend the Shrine'  has special rules linked directly to the Sisters' Acts of Faith/Shield of Faith.

The issue finishes off with another painting tutorial. This time it is for the Dreadfleet models and terrain, but there are some useful tips in the there that can be used across 40k/Fantasy such as painting corpse flesh, guts, painting metal, flames and rock amongst many other items.

Again there is no indication as to what we can look forward to in next months issue, but I will be back next month all the same, looking through the issue well after it is available in the shops!

White Dwarf 381 - September 2011

Am I too late with this months look through White Dwarf? Probably. Those of you who wanted to know about the second part of the Codex: Sisters of Battle will have already found out all you need to know about it, so Ill keep this short and brief.

This months issue is largely devoted to Warhammer and the Ogre Kingdoms. There is of course the second part of the Sisters of Battle Codex alongside a two-page article on the Court of the Archon, which shows off the new models available to the Dark Eldar (Lhamaean, Medusae, Sslyth and Ur-Ghul). 

Reviews of the Sisters of Battle Codex can be found all of the internet, for instance here at 3++ is the new black. While being an interesting read, the codex hasn't made me want to go out and start using a SoB army. However, having read through the Dark Eldar codex, I am quite keen to begin a Haemonculus based army, but that's a story for another day.

As this is so late in being posted up, I feel it is safe to post up the result of the Sisters of Battle v Tyranid battle, which saw the SoB win by two objectives to one. Nice to see my prediction from last months White Dwarf was correct. No idea what's coming up in next months issue, so I will have to wait a few more days and hope for an interesting surprise!

White Dwarf 380 - August 2011

The monthly look through White Dwarf is back. It's another useful edition of the magazine for both Warhammer Fantasy and 40k players alike, especially those with an interest in Vampire Counts for WHFB and Sisters of Battle for 40k.

The Fantasy element of the magazine contributes around 75% of its overall content this month. On top of new rules for the Terrorgheist, Tomb Banshee and Cairn Wraith in the Vampire Counts range, there are also additional rules for a new Garden of Morr plastic scenery kit that is also due to be released. Following this you have numerous army lists followed up by a battle report which sees The Empire go up against Vampire Counts.

To complete the Warhammer section there is then a showcase from the 'Eavy Metal team of the various new monsters that were released alongside last months Storm of Magic, followed by an extensive tutorial for the assembly and painting of a Black Dragon.

And then we find the first part of the Sisters of Battle Codex, situated toward the rear of the magazine and filling 14 pages with information on the Adepta Sororitas. While I could not see any new models and cannot comment on whether the information held within this first section is completely brand new, the codex this far makes for interesting reading. The named characters appear to have had a couple of stats boosted, but until we have the second part it is too early to tell what a SoB army will generally comprise and how they can fair on the table.

In other news from this issue of WD, the Dark Eldar have two more new releases due on the 20th August in the shape of Ur-Ghul and Medusae (seen below) and a Chaos Daemons Battalion/Battleforce due to be released the same day.

Hopefully my copy of White Dwarf will turn up on time this month and the full strength of the Sisters of Battle will be shown in a battle report when up against Hive Fleet Leviathan. I'm putting my money on a SoB victory on that one, so we will have to wait and see!

White Dwarf 379 - July 2011

What is the point in reviewing White Dwarf I hear you asking? It is merely a vessel for Games Workshop to list endlessly and relentlessly everything that they sell, with little to no content that can be deemed useful to the hobby. Well, this month its still a large majority of its usual self, but there is a fair chunk of brand new information within its pages.

WD starts with the introduction of Storm of Magic, something that looks to be quite an expansion to Warhammer. I don't know much about Warhammer as I have never played it, but the expansion sees a host of new models to be released including individual men and a fair few monsters. These come in the usual variety of materials including Citadel Finecast. The remaining coverage in WD looks at various articles surrounding the Storm of Magic release and culminates in a battle report based on the expansion.


The remainder of WD turns its focus on the goings on in Warhammer 40k. Beginning with a Dark Eldar workshop, tutorials are given for preparing and assembling Citadel Finecast and painting tutorials for the skin of Wracks (or quite conceivably any DE) and the vials that pretty much all DE carry. A few handy tips and tricks in there.

Then we move onto the Cities of Death feature which has 12 new official stratagems, giving a new one to each army type, and 4 new scenarios, as well as an article on terrain that has made me want to get going with designing and building my own battle board. The battle report then goes on to use one of the new scenarios and stratagems as the Space Wolves (led by Ragnar Blackmane) take on Huron Blackhearts' Chaos Space Marines.

The July edition of White Dwarf for me has been more interesting than any for a while. The 40k section especially as GW have not used their latest army (Grey Knights if you had forgotten!) to beat everything else to a pulp to prove it is a must have army. Here's to hoping that GW can keep it moving in this sort of useful direction, rather then reverting back to the 120 page advert for GW of recent times. And here's looking forward to the first part of Codex: Sisters of Battle that will be in next months White Dwarf.