White Dwarf is Dead. Long Live White Dwarf?!

At least some of the rumours about the new White Dwarf have come to fruition.  Here is a copy of the Games Workshop email that appeared in my inbox recently:

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Introducing two new magazines from the White Dwarf team!

White Dwarf, now weekly.

Available exclusively through Games Workshop stores, independent retailers, and games-workshop.com. White Dwarf is an exciting and essential weekly hobby magazine that contains something for every hobbyist, every week - guaranteed!

- 36 pages of everything that is exciting and new in the hobby this week.

- Detailed information on all the week’s other new releases, and the latest hobby news.

- New features, new modelling and painting techniques, new rules, new columnists and much more.

- All this every week for the same price as a single Citadel pot of paint!

Issue No.1 launches Saturday 1st February and subsequent issues follow every Saturday.

Warhammer: Visions, now monthly.

Experience a visual feast of super high-quality Citadel Miniatures. In more than 230 pages you’ll find a completely new take on the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 in a stunning new extended pictorial style.

- Contains all your favourite sections from Army of the Month and Blanchitsu, to Kit Bash and Paint Splatter.

- Over 70 more pages than the previous monthly White Dwarf with more Golden Demon and Armies on Parade photos and more fantastic photographs of Citadel miniatures than ever before.

And it’s wrapped up in a fabulous new format that you will want to keep and collect! Issue No.1 out Saturday 1st February.

*** 

To me, it feels like they've split the (recent) traditional White Dwarf in to a trade magazine and a "cool, look at this" kind of Citadel painting and conversion magazine.  I'm not sure what to make of this move to be honest. My opinion is that it is either its a really really great one, or a really really poor one.  I'm just not sure which! I might just purchase both in February and see what I think.  If nothing else, I suspect that the February releases might become collectors items at some level (much in the same way the very early White Dwarfs are).

White Dwarf Evolution or Revolution?

Inspired by the new format White Dwarf this month, in this post I examine the contents of White Dwarf (WD) through the years.  To do this, I take four WDs:

(1) October 2012 -- i.e. this month's "re-launch" or "re-boot";
(2) August 2010 (WD368) -- representative of both fantasy and 40k since it launched daemons;
(3) June 2007 (WD330) -- the 30th anniversary edition and therefore probably broadly representative;
(4) February 1990 (WD122) -- an old White Dwarf from a different era that may not be totally representative of the era.

I wanted to include earlier ones still, but couldn't locate them, so these will have to suffice for my little experiments to consider how WD has evolved.

Here's the experimental aim: to categorize and find the percentages of the content of each magazine in to several different bins:

(a) Adverts (including not only Citadel, but Marauder, etc., in the case of WD122).
(b) Battle Reports (whether 40k, fantasy, LoTR, or otherwise).
(c) Rules (mostly new rules that don't appear elsewhere ... unless its WD122 which includes what is was re-printed in Realms of Chaos, etc.; I note that WD330 included Blood Angels codex for instance), also scenarios (e.g. new Space Hulk missions).
(d) Painting (by whoever, of whatever, including showcases of armies), and conversions / conversion ideas.
(e) Editorials about miniatures and their abilities, background fluff and details about the Warhammer (and 40k) Universe / flavour text, gaming, design notes, etc. This overlaps somewhat with adverts.  Therefore to distinguish between the two, "Adverts" must show the price of the product, editorials about them don't contain the price.
(f) Contents pages, news, filler, tournament adverts, retailer locations, gaming clubs, general artwork, and other things that I couldn't easily put in to other categories!

The uncertainties on each category should be taken as at least a few per cent, possibly up to 5% -- this isn't a totally scientific experiment!  Let me also declare that there's also plenty of subjectivity involved as well, clearly.  And the new WD is at least 1 cm shorter than the old ones in height (hence less room for text, pictures, etc.).  Here's the results.

1. WD Oct 2012:

N(pages) = 153.

(a): 7%

(b): 11%

(c): 0%

(d): 16%

(e): 50%

(f): 20%

2. WD 368:

N(pages) = 121.

(a): 11%

(b): 18%

(c): 0%

(d): 7%

(e): 45%

(f): 21%

3. WD 330:

N(pages) = 129.

(a): 20%

(b): 9%

(c): 11%

(d): 10%

(e): 37%

(f): 13%

4. WD122:
N(pages) = 81.
(a): 21%
(b): 0%
(c): 58%
(d): 7%
(e): 4%
(f): 14%

So, what has happened over the years?  WD has moved away from presenting plenty of new rules and ideas and, perhaps surprisingly, advert content (as many people proclaim that recent era WDs are mostly adverts).  Instead, they've moved toward blending together their miniatures and fluff using editorials and writing about how cool the miniatures are.  This is supplemented with battle reports and tactica.  Painting articles have also increased in percentage terms.  Seen in this light, the new WD is not so much a revolution, as much a part of a continual evolution wherein we see much more detailed text surrounding the miniatures.  The lack of new rules and scenarios is the clearly demarkation between the old format and the new, and I think ultimately, that is where the new format WD needs to pick up the baton once more if it is to appeal to subscribers again.  Just an opinion.

Helldrake Hello and Thoughts on the Oct 2012 White Dwarf Images

The images of the new chaos helldrake, forgefiend, warpsmith, warp talons, maulerfiend et al. are now available.  I must say: I'm excited by what I'm seeing. 

Firstly, the helldrake.  The image of it makes it look like a half crazed dragon that is eager to chase down prey.  When I read the description of this thing a while ago, I was worried.  But having now seen the image, I'm actually very pleased.  The chaos motif of warped and fused daemonic entities and corrupting auras combined with industrial warfare really comes to the fore for me with this flyer.  I hope the rules will make this helldrake a must-have for chaos marine armies, as I really want to purchase and utilize this model!

The forgefiend and the maulerfiend look like they are the same model, but with some bits swapped around (e.g. the fists and the mouth).  I like the look of both of them: the only concern is that they look aesthetically similar to the bloodcrusher juggernaut family of sculpts in some weird way (overlapping armour on the undercarriage perhaps?).  Still, from the pictures, I'm liking the forgefiend best out of the pair: and open gaping maw with a cannon inside ready to fire.  Couple that with rules that suggest it might be a pseudo-dreadnought with daemon-like saves, and I'm liking it.

As for the warp talons: I want to like them, but it looks like the sculpts are limited in their variety and poses.  A squad of lightning clawed raptors with (potentially) the ability to rip the fabric of reality and jump in to battle sounds cool.  That said, the visual of these guys really sets the tone nicely: these boys have spent much too long in the warp and have been ... distorted ... as a result.  Anyone also notice the lightning claws were called "vorpal claws" as well?  Oh, how that takes me back to AD&D.  Snickersnacker!

Finally, the warp smith looks very good as the chaos analogue to the techmarine.  With tentacles, snake-like maws and weapons brimming out from the body and an Iron Warriors vibe, its all good.  Just hope this one won't be too delicate to transport.

And finally, the new-look White Dwarf.  Gone are the traditional logos that have been with us for years to be replaced by a clean-looking font in the upper left corner of the cover. We can hope that the new look will be reflected by a new approach to the magazine that moves away from the advertizement laden content of recent epochs. 

White Dwarf Number 122

A bit of a blast from the past today.  I'd like to feature White Dwarf volume 122 (UK; February 1990). 

On the front cover is a Death Wing Dark Angels marine (the artwork is curiously "eagle wing" -- the name of the terminator)  -- helping to support the sale of Genestealer / Space Hulk.  Also of interest is the prices in the top left: UKP1.50; USD3.95; AUD6.50; W.Germany DM 7.80.  How the exchange rates have changed!

The content features the usual round up of GW and citadel news and features a visit by Brian May (of Queen fame) to the design studio as well as a selection of works by 'eavy metal.

Konrad -- a WFRP character and series of novels -- features backgrounds and statistics of a number of characters including Anvila - a female dwarf with a hate of gobbos.  Yes -- female players and player characters were apparently rare.  Following this, the volume gives details about The Emperor Luitpold - a luxury liner in the warhammer world. 

Following up on the space hulk theme, rules are presented for traitor terminators, including rules for autocannons, missile launchers and conversion beam projectors.  Several new missions are also presented which give the traitors something to fight for.

Some blood bowl magic items appear next, followed by a series of Ork banners.  The stormboyz Khorne banners in particular are noteworthy -- those stormboyz did like Khorne a lot!

Excerpts from Realms of Chaos: Lost and the Damned follow, focusing on Tzeentch and a short advanced heroquest adventure about the "priests of pleasure".  Not sure if it is any good as I never truly got in to advanced heroquest. 

And there's also a section on "battlelines" -- w40k tactics.  The features a good length article on the most overlooked weapon in the game: grenades.  One piece caught my eye: imagine being chased by a dreadnought, but the marines being chased lob several crack (note the spelling) grenades every turn as they flee, but the dreadnought can't respond in kind with its own grenades!  Nice.  The parting advice is to spend points on crack, fragmentation and blind grenades for all units.  Those heady days when such items were optional upgrades!

Perth Visit Coda

On the way home from Perth (I, II), I checked out the airport newsagents.  Unlike some other cities in Australia, they didn't sell copies of White Dwarf.

White Dwarf Retail at AU airports

Having travelled around Australia for both work, (far too few) vacations, and lived in two state capital cities, one thing I've noticed about airports is the availability of White Dwarf.  I occasionally pick up a copy whilst waiting around for departures.  But some cities are (surprisingly) better stocked than others.

For example, Brisbane tends to have plenty of copies in every book stand / newsagents.  I've often found the Brisbane gaming scene to be very strong and loyal (a high ratio of gaming stores to the number of residents).  On the other hand, Melbourne tends to have absolutely zero copies of White Dwarf in any newsagent throughout the departure lounge.  This surprises me given the population of greater Melbourne and the larger attendance at gaming events in the city compared to Brisbane.  Sydney is more like Brisbane and reasonably well stocked.  Adelaide did not have a newsagent who sold White Dwarf when I visited earlier in the year.  And, with apologies to Perth and Hobart, I've not been there in a while, so don't know the local conditions (and never been to Darwin yet). The last time I was in Canberra, the whole airport seemed to be undergoing reconstruction, so I can't really comment for Canberra either.

So why does Melbourne not retail White Dwarf like Sydney or Brisbane does?  The newsagents are the same company, but somehow decides to not sell the magazine like the others.  I don't have an answer to this, hence my observation is purely empirical ... but interesting ...!

Battle Missions and Releases

Reading through White Dwarf and the numerous blogs online, it is readily apparent that a number of miniature releases will be coming along with the availability of the Battle Missions expansion book.

There is plenty of chatter along the lines of Imperial Guard (Basilisk and Chimera models), but less so about other races. In particular, I'm left wondering whether there will be a significant daemons release.

The reason that I mention this is that the "second wave" of daemons release has been talked of for a long time now. We know that models such as the plastic daemon prince have been in the pipeline and photographed for some time, but never appeared yet. I'm wondering if Battle Missions will be the opportunity that Games Workshop have been waiting for to release the plastic daemon prince and (perhaps) other exciting daemons (cf. plastic plaguebearers or pink horrors?).

Here's hoping...!!

White Dwarf and Exchange Rates

Happy New Year!

I've been away for a while -- visiting the UK for the first time in several years to see family and work with distant colleagues more closely. I've just got back Down Under and am a bit jet lagged! On another note, this year will see some changes for me as I'm taking up a new job soon and moving house.

Whilst I was in the UK, I visited a few old haunts and several Games Workshop stores to generally have a look around. As well as getting a good peek at the new Tyranid range (which I'm very excited about; despite being primarily a chaos player -- particularly the plastic gargoyles...!!), the difference in prices compared to Australia was also painfully obvious.

Let me illustrate this by comparing White Dwarf prices. Here in Australia, I just picked up WD361 today for AUD 11.95. Whilst I was in the UK, I picked up the previous one for UKP 4.50. Today's exchange rate is about 0.56 UK pence per Aussie dollar. So: I effectively just spent UKP 6.69 on WD361...!

Since exchange rates have been on my mind recently, here's a mini-list of White Dwarf prices for a number of different countries and currencies (apologies if I missed out your favourite currency!) and that same price in Australian dollars (AUD) using the exchange rate at the time of writing. Just to remind ourselves: WD costs AUD 11.95 in Australia.

UK: Cost = UKP 4.50; = AUD 8.04
USA: Cost = USD 9.00; = AUD 10.11
Canada: Cost = CD 10.00; = AUD 10.58
Europe: Cost = Eur 7.00; AUD = 11.23

As with most of last year, I reckon I'll be ordering in most of my Games Workshop products from the UK due to the exchange rate!

Addendum: Australian White Dwarf 351

Following on from the previous post, Games Workshop has published the new Apocalypse datasheets.

Additionally there's a number of other new sheets - as described on Bell of Lost Souls.

Thank you Games Workshop!

Australian White Dwarf 351

I purchased WD351 yesterday. I was interested to see all those new Stompas and Shadowstorm variants and how they play (etc.) and was generally impressed with the level of detail throughout the magazine. I have a complaint though.

They give the Apocalypse datasheet for the Shadowsword, Stormlord, Kustom Stompa, Stompa Mob, and Goff Rok'N'Rolla -- which is what I wanted to know. On pages 26 and 27, they have the Doomhammer, Banehammer, Banesword and Stormsword illustrated. However, they don't give the datasheet for these four variants. Instead, it is stated "Visit our website to download datasheets for these items." As of this morning, they're not there! Unless I'm going blind. I'm frustrated quite honestly. With a local Apocalypse game coming up in a few weeks time, it'd be good to know how these four variants worked (especially since the models are now on sale)!

Okay - I don't publish too many rants as I like to remain positive. I'm considering writing to the publishers.