White Dwarf is continuing the formula like it have since it's relaunch in October, this time you also get a free poster, showing the Hobbit miniatures on one side and the older Lotr stuff on the other. Sure I like when we get posters but I don't think this one is something I would hang up in my little man cave, I would much rather see some artwork or something or even miniatures that we got when Battle for skull pass was released for example.Anyhow, I think everone knows by nopw what the main release is this month. It's the first 40k army I started to collect, the first legion and called the Unforgiven. The Dark Angels are back! So this is of course the main feature this month and we get a very cool cover showing the new Deathwing Knights. And thus this takes us to the new releases.
New releases
We also get two new characters in Finecast, the first one is Belial which I'm not very fond of I'm afraid. And we also get a new model for the toughest of all the Interrogator-Chaplains, Asmodai with a very cool looking model. Shown as well is the GW Online only DA Standard Bearer in Finecast, with a beautifully sculpted banner. 
So a lot of goodies for DA and all is showed in easy to look at pictures with great angles and without any special lighting. They actually changed my mind about the new DA miniatures quite drastic as I weren't that impressed at first when I only have seen the pics on the net, now I like all of them accept maybe Belial and still unsure about the Vengeance.We also get some non 40k this month with some more Hobbit miniatures. Gwaihir and his Great Eagle friends which looks really nice. We also get Fell Wargs without riders and a set which captures one of the scenes in the film when Bilbo first meets Gollum, cleverly called Riddles in the Dark.
That's all so no Fantasy stuff this month =(
Painting and Modelling
We get the usual segments where are used to by now. Army of the month is Jes Bickham's Tyranid army- Blancheitsu is showing more Inquisitorial Warband miniatures but from other people with a similar style. I like this segment but I wish they could expand it further, and maybe show more themed miniatures, like Mordheim one month, Bloodbowl, Lustria, Necromunda etc. I would have liked that very much.In this month's Hall of Fame we get to see the new plastic Karl Franz on Deathclaw made by Brian Nelson. Parade Ground is a little bit different this time and also bigger, showing the Golden Demon winners from several countries, this is part one so expect from more countries in the next issue. A nice change and we get to see beautifully painted miniatures. Kitbash is about different 40k scenery and not that interesting really. The same goes for Battleground where we see a Dwarf Hold, which looks really nice for sure but we have also seen it several times before.
In Paintsplatter we get a little more in depth tutorial showing how to paint Deathwing, Dark Angels, Ravenwing and also Fortress of Redemption. We only get the usual tips though just going trough every step with what colour you should use, I would like to see more in depth tutorials every now and then showing more advanced tecniques. We also get very brief tips on how to paint Tyranids in Jes green/brown colour scheme and how to paint the Great Eagles wings and skin on the Fell Wargs.
Rules and fluff
Almost non existent, I would like to see the return of chapter approved showing fluff and background for different Space Marine chapters, both loyalists and renegades. Especially about chapters we don't know much about. We get tiny bits of rules, and I mean tiny becasue they are showing small images from some pages from the new DA dex where you can read some point costs and so on but that's it. Would have liked a little preview of the Codex instead and showed us more about the new rules etc.
Gaming
We get a Battle Report this month with DA vs. Chaos Space Marines and I must say I liked it, especially that they modified the scenario with naming one of the CSM miniatures a secret fallen. It made you more interested in the game but I think they missed out on a perfect opportunity in writing a narrative for the game and I also didn't like that we don't know how much each army was in points, because they weren't showed. Big plus for many miniatures painted by the players themselves. We also get a Rivals article this month, this time with Assault Terminators with Th/SS load out versus Grey Knight Terminators, letting both units try to kill different enemy units.The other stuff
We get an article by Jeremy Vetock as always and now he is talking about the pros and cons about having a home and away version of gaming. In 'This month in' we get to see some more from the Battle report, doubles 40k armies and what the WD team as done the last month. In the Design studio we get to see some more about the new DA release of course with an little interview with Jeremy Vetock as well. When coming to Forgeworld we see a new miniature I haven't seen before, an Flagellant. We also get some minor info about Blackfire Pass. At Black Libray we get an interview with Gav Thorpe who returns to Dark Angels with the new book Ravenwing. We also get an interview with Josh Reynolds about his upcoming Blood of Nagash series.Conclusion
Well first of that I can't write these reviews even if I think beforehand that I should. Other than that I quite like this months issue, some nice articles and pictures in there even if nothing is that spectacular. Do hope that they change some things in the near future though as it get a bit stale with the same type of articles and segments all the time. All in all good issue.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
This will stun you I am sure...but I disagree.
ReplyDeleteIt’s an average issue, very very average. And that's being kind.
I don't like to mention price but in this case it is relevant. This is not a model it’s a magazine I can compare and contrast with other publications and White Dwarf is no longer value for money. I have been patient and tried 4 issues now and unfortunately the value and quality actually decreased!
Go back and check the Chaos Space Marine release compared to every other issue. that one stands alone as the best in terms of length the best tutorials best features and an actual battle report.
It may come as a surprise but I brought the magazine to learn more about the Dark Angels. I got nothing. You can glean more information by accessing the website - for free - including stat lines and weapon options! Why was none of this in the codex!
PS I don't like the new models but that's not the magazines fault so no bearing on my rant!
PPS I forgot to mention I LOVE the Demigryphons you have done really well with a reasonably static looking model to create areas of interest. Can you explain a bit more on the process for dipping them? They don’t look dipped!
Love and hugs.
Hehe no surprise there ;) I actually totally understand what you mean and to some extent I also agree with you. Like that there actually aren't that much info about the latest big release, in this case the Dark Angels. I would have liked much more info on them and the new Rulebook like stats, rules, fluff etc.. , this was something that was actually better before the new format in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteIn my latest reviews I still compare them to the old format as well which may put the rating average up a little, I won't do that forever though and I think that they need to freshen up the magazine again with some new segments and articles and I hope they do so.
I still think this issue is a 3.5 though, although a weak 3.5, one reason for the relative high grade may be that I anticipated to see the DA pics for myself so much and that they made me want to expand my Unforgiven force when I actually did see them.
Glad you liked the Demichickens, It's a great sign when even you like them when I know what you think about the models. In short I just dip them the normal whay but splash on method instead of actually dipping them in the pot (they are to big for this of course) then is comes the step I think many dippers skip. I re highlight the whole thing first with the same main colours and then a final highlight if needed. And that takes some time on these big models but makes them look that much better and not as dirty as they may look if just dipped.
I may do a mini tutorial on this if ppl are interested. Thanks for taking time with the reply Minitrol, you opinion is always welcome, even if you disagree with me all the time ;P
Cheers mate!
Not all the time ;)
DeleteWell, I would love a mini tutorial do you do all your stuff like this?
I think another reason I like your demi's is the basing as well. GW version is very bland a lot of open space make the model seem too small and silly for their base.
Just kidding ;)
ReplyDeleteI will try to put together a little dipping tutorial. And no I don't use dip that much anymore but I used it much for my Orcs and Goblins as I don't get the right skintone otherwise, so will probably still use it to some extent.
Agree about the basing, shame the Eavy Metal team don't put some more effort into the basing. The Demigryph bases are perfect to put some more time into as you have all that space to work with.