White Dwarf 386. February 2012.

It's becoming a bit of a habit this, White Dwarf arriving in my letter box on the day of release, bravo!

So this months issue goes back to the old ones where you flip it over for different content. I'm going to start with the main part then get to the exciting bit at the end, so here we go...

Lord of the Rings - Wow this game needs a lot of books. To be totally honest I mostly looked at the photos and read the pop-outs but it does seem like you need to do an awful lot of reading to get started. I've already read the novels, that's enough for me!

The Mines of Moria set looks quite cool, probably because it conjures up images of Heroquest. The gist I get is that the system is for re-enacting scenes from the books/films which I've never been a fan of, I'd much rather make my own story and scenario.

New Releases - Huge amounts of LotR here. It starts with the biggies, the Watcher in the Water and the Great Beast of Gorgoroth. Both nice looking models but each has something I can't quite put my finger on that doesn't sit right with me, Maybe it's because they're not heroic scale?

The Easterlings look really cool, they've got that whole samurai thing going on that I really like and apart from the finecast ones are great value.

There's then some other bits like the casualties, Groblog and Ashrak. Again, they look nice but are a tad expensive.

Finally for LotR there's the command groups and the Dweller in the Dark. Of special interest is the Dwarf Commanders.

 I'm really wondering how they would look fitting in with my fantasy Dwarfs, they'd probably look puny!

Now onto fantasy with another piece of scenery, the Deathknell Watch. Now I love scenery, I'm currently working on my Garden of Morr, but this seems a step too far. In all honesty it looks like a cross between one of the Arcane Fulcrums and the existing tower. What I'd love to see is more army themed scenery like the Garden but for other armies, how about a Dwarf Brewery please GW?

Battalions are out for Vampire Counts and Necrons. If I didn't know that the Tau were fast approaching I'd be very tempted by the Necron one, as it stands I'll leave that idea on the wishlist for now.

LotR Race to the Ruins - Here's an article in the same vein as last months extracts from real books. Thinking about it and slightly revising my slightly negative opinions from last month, I'm starting to like these articles as they give you a chance to try-before-you-buy.

LotR The Armies of Middle-Earth - This gives us an overview of the five sourcebooks released with a summary, occasional army list and some stats sprinkled in for good measure. One thing I noticed, movement stats are given in both inches and centimetres?!

This then leads into a battle report, as I've got no idea about the rules or the armies I glazed over and took in the pretty pictures.

Standard Bearer - umm Jervis, this is the 25th anniversary of 40k, please could you touch on that rather than how you love your tape measure? I guess it's a refreshing break from the Tolkien fest but I can't help feeling these pages could be better used.

Civil War and Deathknell Watch - The second part of the rules with 3 more armies, this is going to be handy if I remember they're there, and rules for the new tower. Having only played my first game of WHFB last Sunday I had no idea buildings had special rules and an affect on the game. This is a really nice touch as it makes terrain more than just something to hide behind.

Army Workshops - And finally we get some 40k. Necrons are still flavour of the month and this shows us how to get the look of the studio army.
The Vampire counts part seems to be a much more blatant plug for the battalion box though.

Armies on Parade! - This shows Nick Bayton's 4th company Ultramarines led by Ventris. The army looks great and his use of the Forge World Imperial Strongpoint is stunning. I remember seeing this at Games Day and loving the detail like the missile launching from the Whirlwind.

Army Workshop: The Eastern Kingdoms - While it's not for an army (or system!) that I play they are the most appealing to me out of the range so more photos of them is great.

40k 25th Anniversary bit - This kicks off with a look at the limited edition Rogue Trader Crimson Fist that mimics the book artwork like the 2012 Games Day fig dis for 2nd ed. The price is crazy steep and I can't think when I'd ever use this (except maybe in a Deathwatch Squad) so I'm really torn between owning a landmark figure or just letting it go.

Some of the other bit they're releasing seem hit-or-miss. The poster and the pin badge look sweet, the mouse mat and bracelets not so much.

Future's Past, a chance to look at some old models. Now I grew up with these so there's nothing exciting for me, however younger readers might be interested.

The interview with Alan Merrett, Jervis and John Blanche was a great trip down memory lane. Really seemed like three friends having a chat and not going for a hard-sell. The pop-outs about each edition were also fun, showing which models came with each iteration.

The top 25 Black Library page was interesting, and I'm thinking of setting myself the challenge of finishing them al by the end of the year. So far I've read 1/25, long way to go.

The next few pages were brilliant. Double page shots of famous battles with amazing terrain, atmospheric and cool to take in all the detail.

The battle report of Rynn's World looks epic. I'm sure it'll mean a lot more once I get round to reading that novel but in the mean time it was a good report on it's own.

So there we have it, another issue and still no sign of my beloved Tau but nevermind, we got a huge amount about GW's 3rd system and a fantastic section dedicated to 40k. This is a tough one to score because whilse I don't play LotR the articles weren't bad, it's hard to be objective. So lots of one system=bad, Jervis=crazy, WHFB=average, main 40k stuff=good, 25th ani bit=great. Looking at it like that I'm going with a 6/10. Would be a dream if an issue of WD didn't have to focus on just one thing but that's the way they do things I suppose.