Review - White Dwarf October 2017
Even though Codex Heretic Astarters: Death Guard has been out for a few weeks now, we've seen a steady stream of new model releases and with the exception of the Myphitic Blight-Haulers, the releases look to be complete once the multi-part box of Plague Marines and Biologus Putrifier are released on 14th of October. The first few pages of this month's White Dwarf are dedicated to the latest Death Guard releases as well as Shadespire.
What is Shadespire? Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire (its full name), is a "tactical arena combat game" that blends tabletop strategy with deck-building elements (that seem to be all the rage these days). The core set, priced at SG$95 (40 pounds and 60 USD), looks to include 2 warbands, 3 Stormcast Eternals and 5 Khorne Bloodreavers, objective tokens, the game board itself, counters, and dice. The miniatures themselves are extremely detailed and of the high quality we've come to expect from Games Workshop over the years. I've not had the chance to try the game out but it looks interesting and with some potential.
One of the mini-features in this month's magazine talks about Total War: Warhammer 2 and interviews 2 of the developer's team about the game that's available on PC.
The Gaming section goes into the details of playing Shadespire and takes the reader through a blow-by-blow account of a full game of what seems to be a quick game that can be completed in under 30 minutes.
Designers' Notes this month covers what is shaping up to be my favourite faction with their new scale (seem more Primaris than regular marines) and their generous inclusion of Nurglings in many of the new kits. The small ones add to the character of the dour Death Guard and act as a nice balancing tool to the pestilence that we've come to associate the grim legion with. Having a winged angel of death doesn't hurt either...
For those looking for some inspiration for their next project, Golden Demon has become one of the most well-known and prestigious miniatures painting contests in the world over its 30 year presence and a feature this month showcases some of the most memorable entries by some of the most celebrated miniature painters over the years.
A Tale of Four Warlords comes to its conclusion in this issue of White Dwarf as well as the four commanders muster their forces built over the course of the past few months to do battle. Both Imperial players team up against the forces of Chaos and Aeldari in a short 40k battle report.
A more detailed Battle Report takes us to the Wyldwoods of Ghyran in the Age of Sigmar setting as a Clan Skryre army faces off against the defenders of the forest, the Sylvaneth.
Ork players rejoice as a Collecting article features Maxime Pastourel and his pirate Gretchin army! (wondering what war call a pirate ork would use....YEEEWAAAGH?). A member of the Citadel Miniatures design team, Maxime's bright and awesomely converted army is a sight to behold and an inspiration for anyone building or thinking of building an Ork army.
In 'EAVY METAL, 2 miniature designers and a writer talk about creating your very own space marine chapter. Not simply in terms of colour choice and armour design but the whole package, including origins, the primogenitor, unit markings, combat doctrine, and more.
To round up the October 2017 White Dwarf, Paint Splatter shows how the Studio Army Painters painted up Typhus, the upcoming Plague Marine Champion, and 3 different regiments of Imperial Guard.
While not as meaty in content as August's White Dwarf nor as celebratory as last month's 30th Anniversary issue, my partiality towards the new Death Guard keeps this month's issue in the "decent" category for me. I hope we get a more useful Tactica Imperialis section next month and reference materials for the hobby (like the awesome painting wheel). Until next time, keep painting everyone!!!
Verdict: 7/10