White Dwarf 390. June 2012.

(edit: For those of of looking at this post, of which there are literally thousands, please check out the rest of my blog while you're here and follow me. You could win yourself a free mini painted by me! Cheers)

So here we have it. A much anticipated issue with the new 40k fliers and their rules (which I'm not going to type out but have included photos of those pages). With so much excitement about these beauties will they eclipse the rest of the content? Will there be any other content? Let's find out!

New Releases - Obviously the stars of the show are the Space Marine Stormtalon gunship, the 3 ork bommers and the Necron Scythes. There's been a huge amount of opinion flying around (oh yes I did just say that!) about the Stormtalon. It seems to be the same people that hated on the Raven that are the vocal ones dissing this model. All of the different angles on show in these pages make it look amazing. Yes it's stubby, that's the damn point. I think it looks deadly, exactly like it's meant to perform.

The Ork Bommer kit is a really cool one. You can build the Blitza-Bommer, Dakkajet and the Burna-Bommer from the one box and I'm finding it difficult to pick a favourite. The missiles under the wings of the burna look sweet as does the pilot of the Dakkajet with his scarf blowing behind him.

The Necron Doom Scythe and Night Scythe look exactly like the artwork in the recent Codex. Again there's been talk about how stupid the open cockpit of the pilot is. Yeah they could've covered it or not had an exposed pilot but I think it adds a lot of interest to the centre of the model.

All these kits cost £27.50 (at the moment) and I feel that's an absolute bargain. I'm sorely tempted to pick up all 3 next weekend.

Ultramarine Stormtalon Gunship - Following on from last issues guide to how to paint Necrons this shows us step-by-step how to paint to new kit in my favourite chapters colours. As with all these guides they're nice for beginners or someone new to the army, not for the experienced painter. Even though it's the experienced painters seem to be the ones complaining about these guides!

The Battle For Cardrim - Robin Cruddace introduces a White Scars versus Orks versus Necrons story about a huge series of battles. To be honest I haven't read it all but it looks like it's backstory to the new Battle Mission called Scramble (see pic for it).

Army Projects - Steve Bowerman shows us how he went about building and painting the White Scars army that was used in the shots for Robins article. Loads of tips on how to get a crisp white. Something I could've used for my Grey Knight heraldry. After that Duncan Rhodes shows how he painted the battles Orks in the Evil Sunz scheme.

Standard Bearer - Jerv talks about the diversity of players in our hobby based on his observations from a few visits to Warhammer World. I agree with him. I love the different ways we can play games and the fact that there's no pressure to always play competitively - that some of us just enjoy playing with a few friends about the dining table. I know myself that's what I love, playing with my 2 mates having plenty of cups of tea, long breaks to have a BBQ and a chat. What kind of games do you guys enjoy playing the most?

Rules for the fliers - Like I said earlier, I'm not going to write them out, so here's the snaps.

Armies on Parade - Some photos of Paul Norton's Blood Angels. He's made a stunning army and display board with some cool bit-swaps like the wings on his Dreadnoughts.

Orcs and Goblins - Over half way through and finally Fantasy gets a look in. Two new plastic (not finecast) characters, the Savage Orc Big Boss and the Goblin Shaman. They're both filled with character and interest but somehow don't quite grab me. They've also released a huge amount of old metal minis into finecast now. Stuff like the Night Goblin Squig riders and even Snarsnik and his fat pet Squig. There's then a bit of a painting guide as to how Duncan Rhodes (again) painted Da Stone Toof Tribe for the studio.

Finecast Fantasy - As well as all the O&G goodies making the switch they've done a huge amount of Dark Elves, Lizardmen and Tomb Kings into the problematic resin. I'm impressed with the scale of this endeavour, I don't see why they couldn't have done it sooner.

Golden Daemon Empire Gallery - As I said a couple of issues ago I find it quite hard to get excited about the Empire. It still looks like historical minis, albeit beautifully painted ones.

Scenery Showcase: Reiksguard Chapterhouse - Following on from last months death world scenery converting it's something for fantasy where they kitbash a Garden of Morr with a Witchfate Tor to create an awesome looking piece of terrain.

Bit at the back - There's an update about Games Day from Black Library about the exclusive books we'll be able to get there like the Tome of Fire from Nick Kyme. I'm getting really excited about BL now. I've only got 3 books left till I'm up to date with the Horus Heresy and I can finally read something else. I'm most excited and Sarah Cawkwell's Gildar Rift and the second Ultramarine omnibus.

The final page announces that next month is going to feature "Assault on Fellstorm Airfield" with more Ork v White Scar action. Possibly a follow up mission to Cruddace's article this month.

So there we have it, and yes there wasn't much content other than the fliers but as an avid 40k fan, ultramarine player and budding necron overlord it was a great read getting my appetite whet for the release of 6th edition soon. On balance I'd say it was a 6/10. Applause for the new rules and mission. Tumbleweed and whistling wind for the lack of variety. Right I'm off to have a beer and look at the rest of the Ork range!

New Ork, Necron and Space Marine fliers from GW.

In a leak/early copy of this Saturdays White Dwarf someone has put up photos of the pages containing the new fliers.


No concrete details on prices at the moment but they shouldn't be more than £40 each, probably around the 30 mark. I can't wait for my White Dwarf to arrive now!





First up is the Necrons with their dual kit Doom Scythe and Night Scythe..

The shot on the left where it's out of context looks really weird but as soon as it's placed on the battlefield it looks awesome. I can't wait to get one of these.

Next is the Ork Blitza-Bommer, Burna-Bommer and Dakkajet.

From what I can tell these look like a 3 in 1 kit which is great value. Again a really cool model.

And saving the best (in my opinion) until last it's the Space Marine Stormtalon Gunship!

This thing just looks incredible. I'm going to need a few for my Ultramarines! It's in a classic VTOL sci-fi style and looks really menacing.

Recent releases and rumours

At the moment it feels like a very exciting time to be in the GW hobby. There are so many rumours and new releases happening that if you're anything like me your bank manager will be shaking their head and tutting disapprovingly! Here's my round up of what's been going down...

Actual releases first. Last weekend GW announced that they would finally convert the majority of the metal space marines into finecast. I'm actually really happy about this move. Yes I've had my share of issues with mis-casts however it has felt like ages for a resin Shrike to come out so I can convert him into an Ultramarine to lead one of my assault squads.

Also Forgeworld released their newsletter with even more Astartes lovin. First off are the very nice mark IV assault marines. I saw these at the open day and they immediately caught my eye. They have some lovely details like the plate armour on the torsos and the single exhaust jump packs. Then there's the terminator weapon set which is for use with the Tartaros patterns from earlier this year. There's not enough of each new weapon like the hammers or lightning claws to kit a whole squad out in them, it's just for making characters, quite cool but not really practical for the money. Finally there is the Tigrus pattern bolter set. While the actual bolters don't look overly special except the straight ammo clips. The nice part of this bundle are the bolt pistol holsters which look way nicer than the standard ones in the tactical squad box.

Now the actual releases are out of the way, on to the rumours. Well, it's not really a rumour but something that's gaining momentum on the interwebs is the new Warhammer Forge book The Battle of Black Fire Pass. Not a huge amount of info at the moment except that it's going to have Empire, Dwarfs and Orcs. Promising stuff.

Rumours of what's happening next month are rather more concrete. Flyers for 40k! The guys over at Beasts of War have stated that there's going to be a large release for many races. These include the Space Marine Storm Talon VTOL which looks badass and a must buy for any astartes lover like myself. The Orks get a Blitza-Bomber and the Necrons get the Night Scythe which looks so cool. Follow on rumours that have been spawned by this are that the Tau and Eldar will be getting flyers later in the year, and also that this flying festival is replacing the launch of 6th ed. I'd be happy either way really!

Which leads us neatly into 6th edition. Most people are signalling it'll be with us in July with the new starter box in September. I've got nothing really to chip in about this other than that I'd be happy if the mutterings of chaos being in there come true, but not so fussed on the Dark Angels. Unless of course they're Deathwing!

So there we have it. Probably old news to most of you but there might be bits for those that don't spend all waking hours on forums! Let me know what you're most excited about in the coming months please.

White Dwarf 389. May 2012.

Now this was an issue I really couldn't wait to get my hands on! I've just recently started to pick up a few Necron models in the hope that the 2nd wave would be soon. I wasn't disappointed!

New Releases - As you'd expect this section is packed with all the robotic goodness you could want! The Triarch Stalker starts things off and it looks seriously imposing. Out of the two variants I'm currently prefering the twin-linked Gauss Cannons over the Heat Ray in terms of looks, I've got no clue how they actually measure up. What's cool about this page is the handy box-out with the paints they recommend to 'get the look'. This has proved mighty handy for me as I've been dabbling with all sorts of colour schemes as those of you who follow me on Twitter might have seen.
Then there's the Tomb Blades. They come in a set of three and it looks like there's a huge amount of customisation in the kit which I really like. The way that the pilot is angled to be facing down kinda reminds of the ride Air at Alton Towers!

The Canoptek Wraiths are my pick of the bunch. They look so sinister and are a massive improvement on the old kit. Again they are a box of 3 with many options. These would look pretty sweet next to the tomb Stalker from Forge World.
Staying on a Canoptek tip it's the Spyder. Again this is going to be an auto-include in my army for looks alone. All I've got to do is decide which kit is going to be top of my shopping list.
Rounding off the new releases are some upgrade kits for Destroyer Lords and Heavy Destroyers. I've never really liked these models and I'm chuffed that GW didn't go down this route for the whole release. Also there's the missing special characters such as Nemesor Zahndrekh and Illuminor Szeras. The later looking so kick-ass holding the head of a dead Eldar.

In other releases they've given the Finecast treatment to the Legion of the Damned and Librarian Tigurius. Great news for when I want to pick up my Ultras again.

News - I feel that this section is really working this issue. They cover games day, new RPG books from FFG, an expansion to Warhammer Invasion. By the way is this game any good please? I used to play a load of CCGs but the constant need to update decks put me off in the end.

The Nihilakh Dynasty - This is a cool article giving some background to the Necron army along with a few pages of painting guides. I usually just drybush my silver straight over black but I'm going to give this method a try to make them stand out from my other armies. Also the tips on painting light sources is going to prove very useful.

Tomb Worlds Unleashed - Simon Grant and Mat Ward chat about the new releases and what they can do on the table. There's not a lot of real content here, most of it is just statements to sound cool.

Citadel Painting Guide - This looks like it might be a regular segment showing the new products, this month it's a bottle of water effects, and giving us a few pages of step-by-step guides on how to paint various parts of models. Although some of the guides are basic to say the least they've looked at a wide range of miniatures, not just the new releases. Tacked onto the end of this is a big guide to the various uniforms and heraldry of the Empire. Interesting if you like the historical aspect.

Tome of Battle - Mat Ward was obviously a busy boy this month as he put together an expansion for the Storm of Magic expansion. There's a truck load of new rules here from a scenario, to the lore spells, to Battle Prayers and Witch Hunter relics. As an almost noob to fantasy and a non-magical dwarf player I can't tell if this is quantity over quality or if it's the shit but roolz iz roolz.

Standard Bearer - I think Jervis was in shock from how good this issue turned out that he spent two whole pages writing a load of shit. Quite possibly the worst Standard Bearer in a while, if not worst article overall.

The Battle for Tanrak - More Mat Ward loving I'm afraid as he brings us a great map-based campaign. I love maps and campaigns using maps and despite what popular opinion says I bought planetary empires and love it! The rules look solid and I really want to play this with my gaming group. They also show a few shots of an awesome looking 'cron army painted by Chad Mierzwa. The spyders look very similar to the mecha from Ghost in the Shell (Tachacomas?!). There's some scenarios and mini battle reps to illustrate them and then there's the apocalypse section. This has one scenario which looks lots of fun using the Forge World pylon and there's 2 apoc phalanx formations. The Triarch one looks easily achievable however the Ghost Strider one could be quite costly. I'm surprised and slightly sad they didn't print a canoptek one but hey ho.

Tale of 4 Gamers - It finally comes to an end with the contestants building a diorama and completing their armies. Yeah the dioramas look alright but I'm glad this series has reached the end.

Death Worlds Modelling Workshop - I really like the idea of this article. Theming your terrain so it feels more like an actual (death) world that you're fighting on rather than a mish mash of stuff. The theory is great, but I can't help thinking how expensive the actual projects could end up being. Inspiring stuff for the 'if I ever get rich' category.

Bit at the Back - A few interesting bits this month. The College of Artisans looks like it's be quite fun so long as there weren't kids there spoiling it. Also the write up and setting up clubs was really cool and made a change from all the hobby centre talk. The back page even shows that next month there's going to be some White Scars v Necron action. Yeah that's probably not going to be the main attraction but at least it's a tidbit to get excited about.

So there you have it. I think this is the longest review of a new one I've done in a while as I found myself enjoying everything in here (well almost, I'm looking at you Johnson!). I'm going to say 7/10. Just a few little things like the lack of solid tactics in the tactics section let it down but otherwise a really fun and enjoyable issue from Andrew and the team.

ps. As an aside I really wish they'd release a digital version of the magazine along with the physical copy, kind of like what Marvel does with it's comics. Would certainly save me a huge amount of time scanning, cropping and PDFing them to put onto my phone!

Vintage White Dwarf 190. October 1995.

After a fantastic vote on Twitter with only 1 entry (thanks @reddwarf6) here's the review of 190 from way back. I'd been in secondary school for a month when this was released and me and my mates jumped on Necromunda straight away.

It was the last of the old style thin dwarfs and this one actually came with a free Necromunda mini, either from House Orklock or Goliath, really don't see that kind of generosity these days. So lets take it away!

News - They announce the plans for next months 'fat dwarf', Jervis is launching a new worldwide campaign, there's a Chaos Warrior pack for Warhammer Quest, the huge release of Necromunda and the first 2 gangs.

On the fantasy side there's some Dark Elves and for 40k there's Tyranid Warriors and the Callidus Assassin.

Also back when they still supported Epic they released a load of Slaanesh titans and some Tyranid bits. Loads of releases and news about lots of systems and topics.

Gang Warfare! - Rick Priestly introduces us to the world of Necromunda and what a world it is! For anyone that hasn't played it I strongly suggest you download the rulebook, proxy some models and give it a go. It's a serious amount of fun and you won't regret it.

The article takes us through the designing of the range from concept sketches to finished figs, why everyone is in gangs and fighting each other and they actually let us in on what they are planning to release to support the game in the future!

WHQ Dark Secrets - This is a great article about two of the Studios campaigns and how they've expanded their game from the basic 4 warriors in the box. They've even got 2 pages of the old photocopy+stick together Dark Secret cards to add a bit of spice to your dungeon crawling. I'm getting really drawn into the idea of starting WHQ at some point, I think it's the Heroquest fan in me.

Callidus Imperial Assassin - Ian takes us through the background and rules for the newest assassin along with the great 2nd edition wargear cards to cut out and make.

Epic Slaanesh War Machines - While the actual models aren't my cup of tea there's rules galore for all the different variants of titan from the Hell-Strider to the Hell-Scourge and the Hell-Knight, all highly original!

Tyranid Warriors - It's possible that this WD came out before my beloved 2nd ed Tyranid codex (I used to play Genestealer Cult) so here are the rules for the new Warriors. They are 55 points each before weapon upgrades. The old models look a bit silly compared to the new ones, they have massive feet and really odd posture, not they'd care about that kind of thing.

'Eavy Metal - A look at some of the teams work. Stand outs from this month are Neil Hodgson's classic Marneus Calgar and Richard Potter's Wraithguard.

Follow me, men! - Contrary to what the title suggests this has nothing to do with public toilets or secluded areas of heaths, it's all about Imperial Guard Command Squads. It's a preview from Rick about what he's been putting together for the forthcoming codex with a preview of the rules and wargear.

Hail of Doom - Jervis presents a battle report between some Wood Elves and some Orcs and Goblins. The O&G army looks superb painted in old school bright reds and yellows with Goblin Green bases. They go into huge amounts of detail and give loads of insight into what they're up to.

Bit at the Back - No big lists of stores here, just the mail order catalogue for the new releases.

I feel that was no way near enough Necromunda in the launch issue but then again there was plenty in issue 191 but loved the WHQ part and the amount of rules they crammed in. This was a jolly good read and worthy of an 8/10.

For next week's review let me know what issue you'd like out of these beauties - 200, 224 or 374, cheers.

YouTube Tuesday - JD's Gaming Blog

@Dodd81 on Twitter (please follow him!) started to make a series of video blogs about videogames earlier this year. He used Kinekt Avatar on the xbox to make them, I've no idea how it works being a PS3 guy, I think it's some kind of wizardry or suchlike. Now I don't tend to stay up to date with gaming much these days but the content he's been putting out has been great and really interesting. I hope that there is a second season of videos to check out soon!

Here's a sample video but you can find all 10 on his channel right here!