White Dwarf # 351

I'm not going to make it a habit of advertising each months White Dwarf here, but this months has some significance. I know other people have it already as I've seen it mentioned on some of the more popular forums out there I just wanted to mention a few things. Outside of the huge War of the Ring feature ( which is ringing a bit hollow with me given that GW's current anti-veteran policies killed the awesome store wide campaign we were going to run thru the club.), the shots of the new Empire Huntsmen (which I am meh, on..the rumor of it being all new Militia was much more exciting) and of course the umpteenth porn-like tank spread ( you can't just have one super heavy right!) There is ton of awesome custom terrain featured in this issue..everything from set pieces for the all major LotR battles, some truly great Warhammer stuff AND best of all these custom Mighty Empires Campaign Maps..
Being a Mighty Empires junky..I cannot help but be truly inspired by these and I will be working on my own campaign map this summer, something of a similar depth of what you see below.








All three of these are just brilliant.

White Dwarf and Cognitive Dissonance

As a pre cursor to my next rant entitled, "Poisoning the well"- which talks why public internet forums are a brain rotting waste of the precious moments of your life- I thought a discussion about White Dwarf would be a good lead in. If you follow any number of public forums that concentrate on the Games Workshop Hobby, you'd think White Dwarf was nothing more than a advertising pamplet for the months new releases. With nothing more than advertisements and some features that are nothing more than "masked" advertisements. I read extremely negative things about White Dwarf, everything from its a malicious hoodwink, a complete ripoff to people who claim to use the magazine to pad their cats litterbox. The problem is these people are not actually reading White Dwarf or at least not the same one I am reading.

Cognitive Dissonance, for those who don't know or have forgotten in laymans terms basically means steadfastly believing in an idea when evidence to the contrary is right in front of your face, it's cyncism over truth in the rawest form. While it may apply slightly differently to the various social structures of modern society, its a term that rightly applies in the current perceptions of White Dwarf.

While clearly not the worlds greatest hobby magazine and clearly a shell of itself from its 2004 incarnation (where it was 20+ pages longer with literally 3 times the non-ad content). Its also very clearly NOT what's purported to be by former fans and cynics of the mag found on the various popular internet forums.

When I think about what I like about a hobby magazine outside of the normal model showcasing and hobby and painting tips. (which WD always has in every issue) I like to look for what we gamers call "crunch". "Crunch" is either new rules, tactics,tips, expanded game options, or new
scenarios..things that we can use to elevate our own gaming and hobby experience outside of what the core books we collected say is ok..in short I look for a hobby magazine to be a gateway between the designers and its customers a place where supplemental information for products can be had.

While I have sporadic issues of White Dwarf back as far as 2004, I recently went back to 2006 (when I went "hardcore" on the hobby)I started with the Dec 2006 issue my first "subscription" issue and went looking for what ever useful crunch I could find in order to see if how my own
"Cognitive Dissonance" was doing because, while I was never as negative as some...I knew I was like many people who just flip the mag look at the awesome models..put the thing down..and never bothering to read half the stuff in there..especially if If I wasnt currently immersed in a
particular game.

So here we go here are all the crunchy bits I can find for 27 issues covering the three core gaming systems, I was suprised how much currently useful stuff I found for my own pursuits. I skipped alot of the 40K stuff pre 5th edition because, tactics have changed and I don't know enough about the current rules to vett what is useful and what is irrelevant but I made note of all other crunchy info I could find. Feel free to copy and paste this somewhere for your own reference. Page number are in parenthese.

DEC 2006 # 323
Warhammer Fantasy Battles - Tactica- Deployment (80)
Lord of the Rings- Tactica- Legions of Middle Earth (114)

2007

JAN # 324
Warhammer Fantasy Battles - The Cannon Roars- scenario (104)
Lord of the Rings- Warhost of the 1st Born- Scenario/ Tactics (54)
All systems- Darker grows the Valley- Ladder Campaign (116)

FEB # 325
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Defend the heroes of our past- Scenario (114)
Lord of the Rings- Ambush in Rhudaur- Scenario (34)

MAR # 326
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Tactica- Movement (84)
- Campaign Scenarios, (68)
Lord of the Rings- Arnor and Angmar- Tactics and Tips (58)

APR # 327
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Tactica-Shooting (84)
Lord of the Rings- Lords of Evil- Tactics (78)

MAY # 328
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Defend the Headless badger- Scenario (118)
Lord of the Rings- Prowler in the Darkness- Scenario (104)

JUN # 329
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Terrian Feature - Tactics (29)
Dwarf miners- Tactics (44)
Capture the tower of moonrise- Scenario (112)
Warhammer 40K- Blood Angels Codex, Part 1 (74)

JUL #330
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Woods, Obstacles, Buildings- Tactics (108)
- Under the hanging tree - Scenario (112)
Lord of the Rings- Dragons of Middle Earth- Rules/ Stats (68)
Warhammer 40K- Blood Angels Codex, Part 2 (78)

AUG #331
Lord of the Rings- Glory of Gondor- Feature- Stats (30)
Battle Fleet Gothic- Brace for Impact - Stats/ Rules (68)

SEPT # 332
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Famous Campaigns- Rules (64)
- Tactica- Magic (81)
Lord of the Rings- Servants of the Dark Lord- Tactics/ Stats (52)

OCT# 333
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Tactica- Fast Cavarly (110)
Warhammer 40K- Apocalypse - Rules/ Stats (40)

NOV # 334
Warhammer 40K- Apocalypse Campaign, Rules, Scenarios (74)
Lord of the Rings- Monsters Tactica (80)

DEC # 335
Warhammer 40K- Apocalypse Campaign Scenarios (54)
Lord of the Rings- Middle Earth in Flames Campaign - Full Ruleset (40)

2008

JAN #336
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Tactica - Flyers (84)

FEB #337
Warhammer Fantasy Battles - Empire Tactica (80)
Mighty Empires Campaign Rules (60)

MAR #338
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- House of the Dead -Scenario (37)
Warhammer 40K- Rynns World Campaign- Scenario / Rules (82)

APR #339
Warhammer Fantasy Battles - Legendary Battles Rules (14)
Warhammer 40K- Apocalypse Data Sheets (60)
Lord of the Rings- Enemy of my Enemy - Allied Tactics (78)

MAY #340
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Glory of Chaos- Campaign- Rules (32)
Lord of the Rings- Enemy of my Enemy part 2- Allied Tactics (66)

JUNE #341
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Warriors of Chaos - "get you by"- Army Lists (68)
Warhammer 40K- Chaos Tactica (56)


JULY #342
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Daemonic Incursions- Scenarios / Rules (72)
Warhammer 40k- 5th edition feature, Rules, quick reference sheet (22)

AUG #343
Warhammer 40K - Apocalypse Data Sheets 946)
Lord of the Rings- Mordor Tactics (42)

SEPT #344
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Raid Scenarios (36)
Lord of the Rings- Council of Elrond -rules/ stats/ scenarios (24)
Warhammer 40K- Black Reach Campaign rules (52)

OCT # 345
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Raid Campaign rules/ Scenarios (36)
Lord of the Rings- Magic tactica, part 1 (52)

NOV #346
Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Bound in Chaos- Warriors Tactics (16)
Lord of the Rings- Magic Tactica, part 2 (52)


DEC # 347

Warhammer Fantasy Battles- War in the North Campaign- Rules (14)
Lord of the Rings- Black Riders of Mordor Tactica (22)
Warhammer 40K- Liber Apocalyptica- Data Sheets (36)

2009

JAN #348

Warhammer Fantasy Battles- War in the North Campaign II, scenarios/ rules (36)
Lord of the Rings- Sons of Gondor tactica (44)
Warhammer 40k- WAAGH Bork- Scenarios (54)

FEB #349

Warhammer Fantasy Battles- Echoes in the Fall- Scenario (58)
Lord of the Rings- Prepare for Battle- Tourney Tactics (42)
Warhammer 40K- Boot Kamp- Ork Tactics (36)

MAR #350

Warhammer Fantasy Battles - Mighty Champions. Campaign Rules (34)
Warhammer 40K- Liber Apocalyptica- Data Sheets (44)
Assault on Fort Wrath - Scenarios/ Rules (58)



Of course I am leaving out the bulk of features, Battle reports, Modeling and Painting advice..as while certainly useful they don't fall into that "crunch" catagory that seems to make or break a magazine. I have to say I surprised at how much I found that's useful( particulary for Lord of the
Rings as it's a game I don't know that well yet) Admittedly there are some very poor issues that arent worth your time particularly in late 2007, early 2008..unless you are just excited for that issues featured army. However, overall there is alot of good stuff that certainly adds up over time and you definitely can see a major content spike in the last 6 months...if you are into 40K Apocalypse..# 350 is absolutely packed. I am definitely going to scan and combine all those Warhammer Tacticas into one PDF for our local group as its one thing I wish I had access to when I started playing or even started a new army. I think I also need to go back thru these and pick out all the modeling / terrain articles as there is alot of great stuff there that's been overlooked. I also found the Lord the Rings info indispensable as a relatively new player to game.

In conclusion I must say I think White Dwarf gets a bad wrap, but per my lead in this piece is about peoples "Cognitive Dissonance" and not about justifying White Dwarf's existence, so let me say this. The magazine its still obviously lacking in content from its former glory years and I only go back as far as 04' with the magazine. I know the business and hobby have changed overtime and I can only assume the magazine follows suit given financial constraints. I'm somewhat immune to pricing debate on the mag because subscriptions were lacking about a year ago and they put out a ridiculously low 2 year deal with free promo models that alot of people like myself took advantage of. Hopefully they will continue to justify the cost with more content, because I really think a saturation point of where it will sell is about $5 (the current re-up, price) At $5 I think its worth your time if you play any of the core GW games, because the "crunch" is there and it adds up nicely over a years subscription.

I am sure certain people will read the above and scoff, that all those articles are useless crap and they're just "too good a player" for any of that to be worth their money, but again these would be the same people "poisoning the well" on various Internet forums and more on that later.

War of the Ring!

While I am in the mood to play newshound, here is another preview from the upcoming White Dwarf #350. It also features alot more information on the upcoming War of the Ring. At this point I've now seen and flipped through the book, I've also talked to some GW staff that have read it in detail. First up, from the Magazine-

New Releases

4/4
War of the Ring
Army of the Dead -Plastic
Ent-Plastic
Sons of Eorl- mounted
Halbarad
Isengard Uruk-hai commanders
Morannon Orc commanders
Minas Tirith commanders
Rohan commanders
Grey Company command

4/18
Dwarf Shieldbearers
Elven Stormcaller
Haradrim Hasharin
Minas Tirith citadel guard 2
Mordor Uruk-hai-2
Druzzag, the beast caller
Amdur, lord of blades
Army of the dead standard bearer
Gandalf-Minas Tirith
Witch King- Minas Tirith
Theoden-Pelennor Fields




I scanned this picture to talk about two thing one is legendary formations and two all the new cool command squads getting released...that Rohan one above is particulary awesome.
(I saw the sprue for the Plastic army of dead, they look great and I am sure are going to turn up in WFB VC armies..I also saw the plastic move trays, but not the Ents.) Legendary Formations allow your characters to form uber formations and blast their way thru the hordes of troops you'll be putting on the battlefield, Command squads in WotR have a major impact on how your forces operate, they lead the assault and offer much needed bonuses.

From my own limited look at the book and conversations with the guys, I do know this
One, this it isn't "Warhammer" LotR..its a completely new game , if anything its Warmaster in 25mm before its WFB. Everyone has brand new amended stats for War of the Ring games, and because of the larger scale units are much cheaper, 600 points of WotR is a good sized starting battle. Combat is very macro..you don't roll to wound..hits are kills...everything is about how many dice you throw..a 8 man formation might start with 8 attacks throwing 8 dice...but its got a captain, Banner , musician, and its flanking..so the 8 becomes 12 dice, tc. or (not sure what the bonuses are) hits are kills, so priority is going to be huge, again things like Heros, Banners, musicians all effect who's going first. I don't know if combats are simultaneous yet.

There is quite a buzz going on about War of the Ring in my area. We've been working on a summer campaign based on War of the Ring that can accommodate 24 players, we havent even publicly opened it up yet and I've already got 10 players. the games with feature the normal skirmish games and the new War of the Ring battles. This campaign going to have its own blog...so look for a link soon.

I have been invited to play in preview game of WotR in the next few weeks, that I will be able to talk about here..this will be before the preview weekend at the end of the month so I should have some detailed information then...LotR is an unde rappreciated gem, I hope WotR gives
people a new reason to give it a second look letting the game get the credibility it deserves!.

New Imperial Guard Valkyrie- Photo!

Ok, not sure if this is the 1st sighting of the actual new Imperial Guard Valkyrie, but it is for me. This is straight out of the new White Dwarf..which seems to go from the printers, to my house, then to everyone else. Anyway I saw the chance to post something relevant about 40K that I like and I jumped at it. so enjoy...this baby could get me to get back into the game..you just never know as I know I am getting one of these. FYI White Dwarf 350 is Apocalypse overload..Super Heavies everywhere with the biggest freaking battle reports I have ever seen. Go and get it!


Edit: -Numerous people want to claim that this is the Forge World model, maybe so and if so then GW is purposely misrepresenting this. (for what reason I'd have no idea) Beneath this photo is a blue box of text with a bunch of info about the new Imperial Guard codex that last line of which is. "To whet your appetites until then, here is exclusive look at the brand new plastic Valkyrie, in the Codex for the 1st time"- why the hell would they say that if this is the FW model? , case closed -this is the new model.



Text of the article for the naysayer's out there..




Edit II: And finally here's the full page, for all the imbeciles, morons and fucktards out there in the void that think I "made this all up" this as a 'stunt' to get more hits on my hobby site that I sell ZERO ad space on ( and won't ever).

FYI- I am often privy to alot of GW information early, and I shared this thinking people would be psyched. What I got in return was a bunch of jackass's critizing my motives, and insisting its the Forge World model. (maybe it is, i don't know, or care- all I know is what the ad claims before you., That it's the new plastic model)

Certainly makes me reconsider what I share with the general public. I have to look into finding a way to privately share information with people that follow the blog and have a genuine interest in the hobby, instead of those whose genuine interest is acting like a fucking moron on the internet.

Edit III- 2/15/09


Here's another pic GW just sent me via the newsletter, I believe this is the same aircraft in the above WD photo (if not they are painted identically) again the new Plastic Valkyrie.