Vintage White Dwarf 193. January 1996.

This issue is a truly amazing eBay find. Not only is it from my favourite era it is possibly my favourite issue! To top it all off the auction finished this morning at around 11 for £1.50 and I had it in my hand by half one the same day as the lovely chap Iain was heading to Cardiff and offered to bring all my winnings if I could meet him. Admittedly this hasn't helped me feeling like a plastic crack addict, as I loitered around Cardiff central station waiting to hand over money to a stranger in return for old magazines. With that out of the way lets delve into this amazing issue.

News - There is all sorts going on this month, from the release of the IG Hellhound and ice warriors to the launch of the modelling workshop hobby tools. Clippers for a fiver and needle files for even less!

Codex angels of death was also released along with a few of the special characters, and as always from this time there was even more Necromunda blisters released.

There's a whole page given to a competition to celebrate the launch of the PC game Shadow of the Horned Rat and this is the month where GW discovered the interwebz!

Pyromania! - Ian Pickstock takes a closer look at the Hellhound with some guides to decals, squadron markings and the complete rules and a cut-out template for the inferno cannon. The article gives tactics and diagrams of how best to use the new tank and in the cardboard section of the mag there's the datafax with all of the rules and points for the whole tank.

(I'd forgotten how much I loved the 2nd edition system of having everything on cards like the datafaxes and mission cards. It was always exciting each month to open the issue and see what goodies would be included. Even though its just printed card it really felt like a huge gift and would be something that Jes could and should try to emulate now)

Warhammer Quest: A dungeon of your own - A follow up article from one back in #188 about creating your own monsters and events for this now forgotten about game (well, by GW anyway). There's great examples and loads of food for thought to really inspire anyone who was playing.

In Communion - An interview with Andy Chambers! One of my all time favourite members of the GW team. Jake Thornton (the WD editor at the time) is on questioning duty. They cover a very broad spectrum of topics from how he got started, what he's currently up to, how he goes about his work, and going rock climbing with Mike McVey! He came across as extremely passionate, very knowledgeable and I remember that then filled me with huge amounts of excitement. I haven't felt that from reading any designer notes in the past few years. Maybe it's because I'm old. One of the coolest bits was a photo of his completely scratch built Redemptionist gang he made to help with the writing of the Outlanders supplement for Necromunda. I was so inspired I spent all my pocket money on a Deacon carrying a grenade launcher as soon as I could!

The bigger they are... - Looking at how to deal with huge fucking monsters and dragons in fantasy. Again there is sound advise and diagrams to help out.

Games Day & Golden Demon 95 - 11 pages given over to some of the most beautiful models little me had ever seen. The majority of them still stand up to today's advanced standards with just the age of the sculpts letting them down. I'll let the photos do the talking for a while...

Yep I know they're all Eldar

Target in Sight - Once again Ian Pickstock talks 40k and different ways to use the mission cards, putting them together, and inventing your own story lines and objectives for games. A great little read and cool to see creativity being encouraged.

Stillmania - I loved this article while I first read it and it still stands up almost 17 years later. Nigel
Stillman talks us through his thoughts about collecting and painting an army without losing focus becoming a hobby butterfly. I was they would include this type of thing in the current WD as it would be invaluable for newer recruits to the hobby. Although thinking about it GW operates totally differently now. Back then they still had big releases but not as much was made of them and they were constantly releasing individual kits whenever they felt like i and putting the full rules in the mag, so I think people had a lot more loyalty to a single army rather than chasing the new big thing. Or maybe it's just me, and I imagine that everyone has the same addiction as me!

I still plan my armies by the Stillmania method to this day, only now I can actually purchase what I want rather than only dreaming. It's a treat of an article.

Just an old Hack - Next up is my beloved Necromunda. Gav Thorpe tells us about the studio campaign and inparticular the necromunda chronicle they produced to keep everyone up to speed. They show some examples of past newsletters and he talks very openly about the playtesting that the game went through. There's some lovely battle shots too, the terrain for necromunda is what really gets me, although the gangers running around the underhive still have goblin green bases!

'Eavy Metal Masterclass - Mike talks us through a couple of reader submitted questions, one about how to paint skelingtons and the other about how to apply smooth edge highlights.

Dave Andrews' iconic Imperial Thunderbolt in the hanger gets two pages dedicated to it. There's a brief interview, you don't see the current golden demon winners being interviewed these days.

Unsung Heroes - Adrian Wood gives us an article about the 4th or maybe 5th game system of the issue, epic! To be honest I didn't really read it when I was young and I haven't read it today. It looks like there's talk about infantry and how effective they can be sometimes.

Q&A - A huge Necromunda section this month and the nostalgia of plasma weapons having to recharge after being shot!

Modelling Workshop - How to make your own gaming table. This was at least a decade before the Realm of battle when GW gave us amazing hobby articles about how to scratch build things from modular tables to flock-covered hills. Obviously they're less inclined to do that now as it would detract from their scenery sales.

Complete with old school cut out banner

Dark Saviours - So finally when we almost get to the back of the magazine do they give us what would've taken up the majority of a more recent issue. Dark Angels get rules, wargear cards and background for Commander Azrael, Grand Master Ezekiel and the Chaplain Asmodai. There's no input for Jervis in terms of design notes but rules is rules.

Raid! - We finish off with a fantasy battle report between Orcs & Goblins and Dark Elves. What's cool about it is that it is part of a campaign, not just a single mission. I'd love for this idea to be reintroduced to the current WD but then there wouldn't be as much fresh stuff to put into books such as the Crusade of Fire or Blood in the Badlands.

Another issue over and boy has it been an action packed 100+ pages. There really was something for everyone regardless of which system you played, and every single article either gave you new rules, new ways to play, things to try or just amazing ideas and food for thought about the hobby. That's why I love this issue so much, my only gripe is that it could've done with a touch more necro but that's me being greedy! It's damn close to being a perfect 10 however I have to retain my tough edge so it's an all time high of 9.5/10!