Review: White Dwarf 393

As you can expect after you have seen the front cover, this issue is all about Dark Vengeance.  And I must say, even though I really like the box and all of it's content it's just to much of it in this issue and not really much else at all. So what's in this issue then?

New Releases
Yeah, you guessed it. The new 40k starter box  called Dark Vengeance with Dark Angels and Chaos Space Marines. I really like the box and how all the models look, and I will buy a box, I'm a Dark Angel player after all. There are also a box for transporting all of the miniatures in with custom cut foam as well as a Novel based on the fluff from the Dark Vengeance box. There are also some new re-released miniatures in Finecast for both 40k and Whfb as well as Lotr. The other big thing released that I really like is a new box with Special weapons for Sternguard Veterans. This includes Heavy Bolter, Heavy Flamer, Combi-Plasma, Combi-Melta, Combi-Flamer and a Pair of Lightning Claws. Really nice and makes it much easier to get your hands on these weapons, I hope they do more of this as it can be a real hassle sometimes to get the weapons combinations you want.

Painting and Modelling

Not much at all actually, there's no painting tutorials this month which is kind of strange. There are plenty of galleries and showcases though, especially for showing all the new stuff in the Dark Vengeance box. Which is nice but I like the part where they show different colour schemes more, like the Chaos models in Alpha Legion colours (which might be the colour scheme of choice for me when I get this box). There is also a modelling workshop for Space Marines which most we already seen so not that exciting. We also get a Armies on Parade showcase this time featuring a nicely painted and converted Space Wolves army. There's also a Showcase showing a big Forge world Red Scorpions army. We do get some little things for Fantasy players as well, a Daemons gallery with Golden Demon winners and a dual army showcase with Chris Peach's Vampire Counts army and Duncan Rhodes with his Bretonnian army. This I really liked as both armies looked really nice with lot of conversions and different miniatures and also really nicely painted. Shame both armies just get two pages each though as I like these kind of Articles the most, showing armies you haven't seen before.

Rules and Fluff
There are some fluff here and there regarding the Dark Vengeance box, which briefly tells us the story behind the battle between the Dark Angels and the Crimson Slaughter which is the Chaos Space Marines. Not much rules though.

Gaming
We get six mini battle reports, one for each of the six scenarios you get in the How to Play booklet found the Dark Vengeance box. I actually liked these quite much as each scenario sounds like really fun to play (for me anyway as a 40k beginner).

Conclusion
An okey issue but to much focus on the new big release and not that much other stuff that's interesting. And if something was interesting (like the whfb showcases) it didn't get much space. I know WD is considered an expensive advert for all the new GW toys, and sometimes this is the case more or less. Unfortunately this is the case this month, I want more hobby tips, see more armies and miniatures I haven't seen before etc. Hopefully WD will get better in the future and I if you are totally uninterested in Dark Vengeance or 40k take my advice and skip this issue.

Rating: 2,5 out of 5