White Dwarf Review 378

So I signed up for a White dwarf subscription awhile back and got my first issue today, the Newest White Dwarf featuring a lot of stuff about the new Warhammer fantasy expansion Storm of Magic. Quick note, if you don't like reading, you can just pick out the red and bolded print to get the highlights.

(Warhammer) New Release Section  7 out of 10, most of the stuff isn't too new, but there are some surprises to make this section worth looking over.
So as everyone knows WD always starts up with a new release section, and while some might see this as just advertising I actually like it. First off, if anyone has ever read pretty much any magazine you will know that just about every other page is an advertisement, usually for something completely unrelated to what you are reading about. At least with WD you know what you are getting, and if you bought the mag, you obviously care at least a little about the game.

The new releases mainly feature the new storm of magic stuff. Detailed pictures of the new monsters (chimeara, manticore, black dragon, and cockatrice) are followed up by the new terrain (two sets, one with the magewrath throne, and balewind vortex while the other has the eternity stair and dreadfire portal).  Next are the new wizards which everyone has most likely seen (one for chaos warriors, demons, dark elves, and vampire counts). Next up we get to see a nice picture of the Storm of magic Book itself, which includes a cool spinner for seeing which magic lore is in ascendancy. BTW, i really do love the new Warhammer books, they just look beautiful to me, and I might actually pick up the storm of magic one. The next two pages contain the vortex templates, new magic dice, and the battle magic set.

Finally, after all this, I turn the page and my eyes practically pop out of my head! the lammasu and great taurus from the chaos dwarf range are both being released in finecast! Talk about a surprise. Also the fen beast, dark emissary, truthsayer, and a brand new cold one sculpt are also being released in finecast. The release section ends with a preview of the new kill team game and some books from black library.

(Warhammer) A Magical Mealstrom 8 out of 10, check it out to get the low down on the new expansion, With a lot of new rules and descriptions this is definitely with the read.
This is basically your preview section for explaining what the Storm of Magic is, and how it effects and changes the game. Basically you get to cast awesome spells, tame great beasts (All 60 of which are available to EVERY army) and use some amazing artifacts. Each army gets storm of magic points to use in addition to the normal points for a game. Even Zoats are included! ZOATS!



(Warhammer) Scourging of the Southlands 3 out of 10, its short and nice, but not worth more than a minute or twos glance.
Just a cool picture and brief description of a Lizardmen vs. Skaven Storm of magic game.

(Warhammer) Here Be Monsters 5 out of 10, preview of the actual rules is nice, read the first page or so, and then you can probably skim the rest if your not into scultping
This section explains more about how monsters work in the storm of magic and gives the full rules for the Chimera. It is also an interview with Trish Cardon, the sculptor who did the four new monsters for the release. The end of the section gives a fully painted showing of the new black dragon kit, I personally want the wings, they would be awesome for a demon prince.

(Warhammer) Monsters for Hire 3 out of 10, really just a showcase without up close pictures, cool if your army is included, a pass if it isn't.
This section just showcases some of the studios armies for the new storm of magic expansion. It includes a tomb kings army, dwarves, orks, wood elves, and skaven.

(Warhammer) Battle Report: Chaos Warriors vs Dark Elves 7 out of 10, if you are thinking of getting storm of magic, check this out, it really gives you a feel how the new expansion plays out.
Without going into the turn by turn the battle report really showcases the huge effects and awesome spells that come into play with the new expansion. They really are possibly game changing spells, and the batttle report reinforces my belief that Storm of Magic will be better suited to be a Beer and Pretzels, story driven game rather than anything uber-competitive.


Standard Bearer 5 out of 10, some nice background/behind the scenes info, but doesn't really say anything.
This is basically just Jervis talking about the evolution of how miniatures were made, giving some nice insight into some of the behind the scenes differences between plastic and metal. Not anything horribly interesting, but worth a quick skim.

(Warhammer 40k) Dark Eldar 4 out of 10, If you play dark elder give it a read through, otherwise just skim the painting tutorials and see if you can use any of them.
The next few pages cover a huge monologue on Dark eldar and cover things from modelling to painting the new miniatures. Ultimately I have like the painting guides in the recent issues, and while not all of them directly effect what I am painting, I have been able to use quite a few to help increase my painting skill level.

(Warhammer 40k) Cities of Death - OFFICIAL 6 out of 10, nice to see some rules coming out of the white dwarf, even if they are just updating an old expansion.
This section marks what I hope to be a return in the pages of white dwarf, official rules, even if only for an older 40k expansion. After a brief article about Cities of death, There comes official army specific stratatgems and four new cities of death missions. The article ends with some cities of death modelling advice.

(Warhammer 40k) Battle Report 2: Chaos Marines vs Space Wolves 3 out of 10, its a battle report.
A cities of death battle report with two power armored foes. Not too much to say about it.

OVERALL SCORE 7 OUT OF 10

+Previews had some new shockers tucked away

+Storm of Magic reviews really give a good feel to the expansion

+Nice Dark Eldar Hobby

+Cities of Death Official Rules

-Nothing for Lord of the Rings if you play the game
-Unless you play Dark Eldar there was not a lot for 40k


Any one have any questions? Did you find the review helpful?

White Dwarf 361 Review

So I know that a lot of people have pretty much given up on white dwarf, but I haven't yet, and probably wont. Even in the face of more advertisements and such and the removal of some rules and such, I still think that there are some good things coming out of the monthly magazine.

The Good

Page 13, Black Library

While technically a type of ad, its one that I am ok with. The magazine devotes half a page to each Graham McNeill and Dan Abnett to talk about the next duo of Heresy books to come out. Gives some good insight into the books that will be hitting shelfs soon, and how the authors are going about writing the two books from different perspectives. Just Look at Abnett's first line, "Prospero Burns...and well it should!"

I love the Heresy series and this was a nice section to wet my appetite before the books come out.

Page 20-26, Insights into the Beast

So this section is always something that I look for when a new army comes out, whether Fantasy or 40k. It begins with a Q and A about the army and gives some insight into how they are designed and played. It's nice for me cause it lets me know what the army has in store without needing to shell out $25 for the codex that I won't use. It ends on page 27 with the one things that the newest white dwarves have in droves, and which I love, painting advice. On one page it gives you step by step instructions for fur, flesh, horns/bone, and metal. The skill level is easy enough for beginners to accomplish, but at the same time still nice for the more medium to advanced crowd.

Page 46-49, Liber Apocalyptica

For those who like the army lists of the past, this section is nice, and something to look over. Whatever your feelings about apocalypse, you have to admit it gives you some interesting ways to play and some interesting tactical positions. Apoc formations are always fun to read for me since they are going to be the crazy stuff that you would love to see in real games, but know that it wouldn't work.

Page 52-55, Striking a Balance

Perhaps only an interesting article since it using wood elves as its main example (an army I play), but does give some meager insight into list building and tactics with a more balanced list. Ultimately I think that it is a little bit more to promote the friendly fun play that GW seems to be pushing, but gives some things to think about.

Page 79-85, Ask 'eavy Metal

I was happy when I flipped through this section, hopefully something that White Dwarf will continue. These pages are covered in painting tutorials with things like Blending cloaks vs Line highlighting, marine hand painted decals, reflective metals, glass vial.hourglass tech, red armor and cloaks, a red magma effect, and some weathering techniques shown on orks. They finish it up with 2 different horn tutorials and a sculpted banner tut.

Page 98-103, 'eavy Metal Masterclass

Dealing with painting faces on monstrous creatures this was a nice file article to have. It covers a variety of things like LotR Ogres, Lizardmen, Beastmen, Giants, orks, and even deamons. A little something for everyone.

The Bad

Battle Reports:

Brettonians + Empire vs. Beastmen. Battle reports are always iffy for me. They rarely are a very interesting read and give only a cursory glance at any specific armies tactics or rules. If you are looking to play beastmen, you can probably get some decent information out of it, otherwise, I just leave the stuff alone.

Planetstrike Tactica:

I don't know about you guys but I don't really play planetstrike or really own the book. If you do, give it a look and there might be some interesting things.

LotR:

I don't play LotR so I will leave this section up to you, although there is a pretty nice painting tutorial about the Nazgul.

The Meh...

Standard bearer

The standard bearer articles are kinda like Jervis's Soapbox. He may say some interesting things, but really, is anyone listening? This months is about conversions.

Golden Deamons?

A far cry from the golden deamon articles of the past where you saw Gold silver and bronze in each category, but all said, it is some nice "eye candy"

Modelling Workshop

Not bad if you are looking for some terrain ideas. This months focuses on "Despoiling the Empire." There are a lot of pictures that will give you ideas, but it doesn't really show to many WIP or step by step.

So there was my review, hope it wasn't too boring. I haven't posted in awhile, so I figured I would do something, and this came to mind. If you guys like it, ill redo this one with some pictures and continue, if you don't I wont.

On another note, I am working on a Tzeentch Demon Prince, a Sorcerer for DnD, a squad of bloodletters for a contest, and painting a squad of fire warriors. Also I hope to have a test model done of a berzerker soon. Hopefully I'll get some pics up this week or so.

Out.