White Dwarf 384. December 2011

Blimey! This issue was actually waiting for me in my letter box on Saturday, the day it hit the shops! I was totally blown away by this and instantly made me want to read it. I'd been fully expecting to have to wait until the Thursday after like I've had to do the past few months. Well done Games Workshop, fingers crossed this isn't a one off. Just a shame you've had so much backlash from a very unwise decision. Now onto the review...

New Releases - This section has been seriously cut down. The new Beastman monsters, Ghorgon and Cygor, look interesting if you like that kind of thing. Same goes for the Jabberwock, erm I mean Jabberslythe. Not really my bag though. The Mangler Squigs look cool but the Lord of the Rings dragon just made me laugh. It looks rubbish!

It's a sausage with wings.

It's great to see another double page Black Library spread, let's hope this section continues.

Denizens of the Forest Depths - A focus on Beastmen but nothing of interest for me.

Blood in the Badlands - This is a total surprise and very welcome! I read the whole article straight away, something which doesn't happen often. It's basically the kind of thing I wish GW would do on a more regular basis. It incorporates a bit of everything, from campaigns, to special rules to house rules and is really great value. As soon as I've got a painted fantasy army this is going to the top of my list. Way better than Storm in Magic.

Speaking of which there's some rules for the new monsters for that expansion. Fanatastic to see proper rules making a more regular appearance.

Warhammer battle report - Skimmed this but seemed like a cool battle and the Ogres are really starting to appeal to me. Oh dear must maintain self control.

Blanchitsu - As much as I love Jervis' Standard Bearer this felt like a breath of fresh air. None of the article felt like he was being goaded into what to write about and I think it was great to have someone's personal and honest thoughts about the hobby in the magazine. I wish that there were more columns in it with people writing from the heart about the hobby.

Liber Apocalyptica - More new rules, that while not applicable to me right now has to be applauded.

Double page spread on the Forge World Contemptor Dread was great and brings a great model into the mainstream.

Mat Ward's campaign was a really cool mini article, they could've quite easily just done a battle report about it but to actually put in the missions was a treat. (Hmmm this is all sounding way too positive so far, what's happened to me!)

Painting and modelling section - More please! Even though I'm not going to be painting a Thundertusk it's always good to read up on techniques.

LotR - Can't comment, except the sausage dragon shows up again!

The Augury - Seems to have been really cut down. Is still a waste of pages but a step in the right direction.

Dwarfs and Skaven are on the back page. I'm really hoping this means there's going to be either a lot of Dwarf action next month or more Badlands stuff. Overall this issue was great, not perfect but a definite move forward on some of the recent ones. I honestly hope this is how it will be for the months to come, arriving on time and packed with things I want to read without getting annoyed. 8/10.