RIP White Dwarf! Welcome Mini-Dwarf!

So, now White Dwarf is going to Mini-Dwarf magazine! It appears that the price is $4 a book for 32 pages. Now it sounds like they have acknowledged they are going to move away from the Sears and Roebuck style of making their magazine a glorified catalog and actually make it a hobby magazine again! Wow! What a concept!

Problem is the game SUCKS ASS! Yea, let’s throw in Forge World, Super Heavies and extra Fortifications to make up the sales and totally push the game from any concept of competitive gaming to ROCK>BIG ROCK>BIGGER ROCK! Wow, Magic the Gathering for Minis, do you kiddies have your credit cards yet? Better get a larger limit!

Great idea, but a few years late there White Dwarf, guess you see the writing on the wall and trying to find a new way to rake in some extra cash? How so? $4 a pop equals $208 per year, even discounted they would make more than their typical subscription rate of 12 issues for the prize of 10 (or 8 if you are willing to go to a GW store to pick it up)....yea the one’s that are closed at weird hours, has limited hours and run by a lackluster black shirt that is worked like a slave and is conditioned to be a used car salesman when you walk in.

I pray that if there is an 7^th that it may bring some hope back to the game, but I doubt it. As long as they keep letting these knuckle-dragging-idiots push the game along in this direction, right into the pit of despair and hell itself! Oh well, good news there are plenty of other games out there and we can always go back and play “Classic Hammer” back when editions was worth a shit.

Wish in one hand, poo in the other....which one fills faster? 

White Dwarf Cover Teaser

So, we have a leak on the cover art for the next White Dwarf with all the new changes. Nothing impressive except it is interesting artwork and the cover layout is different. I plan to grab a copy this weekend and do a review. I am sure there is a few items I may want to preorder but for the most part I think I am going to just order the codex and maybe the flyer, then read the book and then order the next weekend anything else I want to add.

White Dwarft 389 Review

 Well, let me start by saying I have not purchased a copy of White Dwarf since the issue that updated the Vampire Counts Army with the new unit updates in it. So, it has been a LONG time since I have purchased a copy. I flip through them to see if there is anything worthwhile but so far until now, nothing has inspired me to purchase a copy.

 Long ago I wrote a letter to the White Dwarf editor telling them the load of crap they was publishing for $9 a copy now in the US. The book was little more than a nice catalog with some craptastic articles.

In the past GW put new rules, scenarios, painting, conversions and other great hobby materials along with excellent battle reports. That has long since been a thing of the past at lest until now. Perhaps this is a sign of the times that GW has learned some lessons and is slowly trying to fix some of their major issues including a crappy hobby magazine?

The first few pages are teaser pictures of the new flyers with Orcs and Goblins for Fantasy in the wings for an upcoming issue. We slide into an article about the Stormtalon with lots (perhapsa bit too much) of eye candy. Pages 9 and 10 are ok but there is nothing useful then ends with a two page spread trying to sell it (wait you just promoted it at the first part of the magazine) but could have been done better with showing details of the sprues instead of making it look like a nice catalog item.

Next is the Ork fighter/bombers well, more of the same, the technical pages again was a huge waste of space and the sprues could have been displayed on two pages instead of trying to make this cool catalog shot.

Of course the Necrons get a few pages, but wait! There are no technical pages here! What an insult!

The how to paint the Stormtalon was ok and was stepping back into the fare of GW’s old magazine offers. For the most part, it was well done. Did you guys have to really plug a whole page to the colors and supplies needed?

Next up is a feature called “The Battle for Cardrim” that goes back to old school White Dwarf also, granted they could have done a better job on the feature but hell, I am happy they are getting back to this concept again.

Then we get a few pages of how to paint White Scars and Orks, ok I can buy this. Granted White Scars are not the most popular kid among the Space Marines but with the feature prior using White Scars made sense. So, I will go along for the ride. It at least explained how to paint white armor!

P63 has the usual add for Assault on Black Reach. Hrm, wait I can’t find it on your website! You pulled it already for 6^th! Great planning there guys!

Next up is the Standard Bearer written by Jervis Johnson, I read this when I need to fall asleep or having a really long moment in the bathroom and I want to speed up the process. This is by far one of the worst parts of the magazine, it’s boring!

Finally on p66 we get to the RULES for the new stuff! Overall the articles are well done with the Orks getting three new fliers! More on this review later! They also had some nice pictures of various paint jobs that could have been condensed into fewer pages with smaller pictures.

After several adverts we hit the article for Fantasy about the Stone Toof  Tribe! Some nice painting tips but the plugs in between are a bit much.

It was nice to hit on Armies on Parade and Games Day (which would be nice to focus more on these, hey those wasted pages perhaps?).

The rest of the book is nothing more than advertisements and promotional stuff for various things and wasting several pages. I died laughing at the EVENTS area as almost the entire thing covered TWO STATES! Hey guys, we have FIFTY in the United States! Most covered CA and WV, all I can say is WTF! Great if you live in those states!

White Dwarf Going Old School!

That’s right! I purchased my first copy of White Dwarf (#379) this weekend in what may be almost 2 years. I have broken my personal boycott of the magazine as the content clearly sucked. It was little more than a large, elaborate catalog that was expensive at $9 a pop designed to sell goodies to the kiddies. It was little more than Tofu of hobby magazines, filling but no real taste.

It warmed my undead heart to see the Vampire Counts get some love in this issue with a new unit, new models and updates to their Army Books.

GW may finally have seen the value again in their magazine as a means to update rules, add new things to old books and to maintain the hobby. This was how the White Dwarf was long ago: alternate rules, updates, changes and great hobby articles that was worth reading. You was afraid not to subscribe or buy an issue at your local store as you may have missed some great articles.

They managed to finally pack an issue with painted bitz from the Terrorgheist and Zombie Dragon sprue. Rules for the Garden of Moor, a new unit the Terrogheist, added new heroes (going back to the old codex before) and included a good battle report to help cement it all together with some hobby articles also.

Then they printed the first part of two of the Sister’s of Battle Codex. For the most part, it has some concepts that are interesting but the army is unplayable as Faith is really nerfed at least until they get their official Codex. We all remember the Blood Angels one done in White Dwarf. It turned out nothing like they published really. I am sure the Sister’s will get lots of goodies just like the Blood Angels.

I encourage everyone to write to Games Workshop and compliment their work in this issue and encourage they continue down this path to make their hobby magazine better!