Review: White Dwarf 391

Warhammer 40,000 6th edition is soon here, and this months WD covers the new rulebook and a lot more 40k related stuff. Not much else though so if you are totally uninterested in 40k maybe this months WD isn't for you. But if you just have a little glimpse of interest I think most people will find a quite nice read.

New Releases
Of course the only major release this month is the 40k rulebook and the different variants of it. And it's Dark Angels on the front cover of the new book! As a DA collector I think that's huge and the artwork looks really nice as well. Like with 8th Warhammer Fantasy there is a Collectors edition and a Gamers Edition. The first one is a more exclusive book and is limited to 4000 copies. In the Gamers edition you also get apart from the ordinary 40 k rulebook, a satchel in leather to carry your things, a limited ed. set of 12 Munitorum Dice which comes in a lasgun power pack tin. You also get  dice holders that look like Servo-skulls and two different pin badges for the satchel, one looking as the Imperial Aquila and one as the eight-pointed Chaos star. They are quite pricey but so is the original rulebook and I may order the Gamers Ed. for myself.

There are some more helpful things for your gaming need apart from the new dice and dice holders, there's Battlefield Objectives and Vehicle Markers to be mounted on the dice holders to make it easier to see what objectives there are and the status on your Vehicles. There are also some new Templates and a new Tape Measure looking like a Servo Skull. Nothing to spectacular but they all look nice if you want some cooler looking gaming aids. It seems like Psychic Powers will have a more prominent rule on the battlefield and so GW also releases a set of cards with all the new Psychic Powers, much like the Battle Magic Cards in WHFB.

There's also some new miniature releases, new Finecast versions of different miniatures for Orks (I've waited for Boss Snikrot here's as I have plans to convert him into a Savage Orc Boss), Dark Eldar, Grey Knights and Tau. And two new Special Characters for Necrons, Anrakyr the Traveller and Orikan the Diviner, both looking really nice. So only 40k this time but no surprise there.

Painting and Modelling
Not much here, they are showcasing a lot of different Wh40k armies which are really nice too see as they are made by different staffers and therefore are not the ordinary Eavy Metal armies. I especially like the Imperial Guard army with all the guardsmen having Empire Outriders and Pistoliers heads. This month painting tips show you how to paint your Tau, with the traditional yellow armour for the warriors and how to paint blue skin and how to paint Kroot. Great as always and of course also benefits people who don't have an Tau army.


There are also a little something for WHFB and that is a Showcase for Dave Taylor's great looking Nuln Empire Army for Armies on Parade. I hope GW brings more and more of these as the armies looks really nice on their display bases.

Rules and Fluff
There are of course a lot of talk about the new rules in 6th edition. I won't get much into it as I never played a game of 40k myself, and can't really say what the major changes are. But from what I can tell from what I've read GW wants the new edition to be more cinematic. Like your army leaders getting Warlord traits which is being rolled for before the battle. A new special rule for jump units called Hammer of wrath where you jump infantry leap into combat and crush their foes beneath them. Flying monstrous creatures can now make a Vector strike where they swoop down on their enemies and take their heads with them. Now you can also get a free round of shooting at BS 1 when being charged, called an Overwatch attack.

Other bigger changes is with scenarios and objectives, now you have different secondary objectives and the Force Organisation chart is changed with you being able to have a allied detachment as part of your standard army. Also you can now buy fortifications with you can use on the battlefield as a vital part of the game, with Aegis defence lines and even a whole Fortress of Redemption, a glimpse on how to utilise these are seen in the battle report in this issue.

Gaming
Yay a Battle report! Off course showing you how the different elements of the new rules works. The battle is between Imperial Guard with some allied Grey Knights and a combined army of Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Deamons. Both armies use fortifications to show you how good it can be to have on the battlefield, and they show you many of the new rules in action which is great for the likes of me who don't have full understanding of the game. Nicely written and great looking scenery.

Conclusion
As you probably have figured out by now I'm no 40k player, I do have a quite large force of Guardians of the Covenant and I have always been interested in the lore and the miniatures in 40k. So even if I maybe don't get as much out of this issue as actual 40k players I really enjoyed reading this and I really liked all the different armies showcased. So I really recommend this issue for all you who have at least a little interested in 40k.


Rating: 4 out of 5