It's the start of another month and that means it's time for another issue of Games Workshop's monthly magazine, White Dwarf. As we draw closer to the holiday season, it's natural for companies to start releasing bundles and new products for Christmas and GW is no exception. Expect to browse through a chock-full of holiday gift ideas and product releases in this month's White Dwarf though there are a number of good articles and previews as well.
This month's main feature is the highly anticipated return of an old classic Games Workshop game, Necromunda. It's being released as a big boxed set that comes with 2 sets of 10 miniatures (the iconic Goliath and Escher gangs from the lore), the full set of rules, a gaming board and even terrain to get 'ol gang bosses started. For modellers and Warhammer 40k players/hobbyists, there are also faction boxed sets for both houses and Necromunda-themed bases for kit-bashes, conversions, and all round gritty-hive-styled goodness.
This new release is covered in more detail in the Cover Feature with interviews of the game's designers and sculptors (apparently the whole project began with Sector Mechanicus scenery being developed at that time). This issue's Battle Report also appropriately covers a game of Necromunda and you'll get a peek of the amazing models and colourful game board in action here.
November's White Dwarf also covers the releases of both the Eldar Craftworlds Codex (released this past weekend) and the upcoming Tyranids Codex and one thing in particular caught my eye...a small Tactica: Tyranids blurb! Readers who know me know that I'm always on the lookout for more tactica and gaming-related pieces. While fairly basic, it's a good starting tool for gamers just getting into 40k with these chitinous "gribblies". Both of these new additions to the growing 8th edition of Warhammer 40k will provide much needed reinforcements (in terms of rules) to the currently weaker Xenos factions. Designers' notes for both give an in-depth look at the choices made as well as how the designers went about reinforcing the factions in terms of their lore, new stratagems, and craftworld/hive abilities.
If you're a big hobbyist, you will be excited and possibly stressed out over GW's annual "Armies on Parade" event where fans of both games (40k and Age of Sigmar) show off their hobby work for the year on themed 2' by 2' boards. It is a celebration of the beauty of the hobby, imagination and visual story-telling and our local Armies on Parade is covered over the span of 2 weeks with the Age of Sigmar version having happened at the local Games Workshop (Red House) last week and 40k happening tomorrow. If you missed the festivities last week or just want to take a look at the entries again, head on to local blog, herebegeeks to read about their coverage of the event. They should also be covering the 40k themed Armies on Parade tomorrow and I'm looking forward to reading more about their coverage. This issue of White Dwarf covers some of the awesome entries from around GW's head office. I love the cogwheel-themed board for Gareth Cosby's Cult Mechanicus entry.
On the topic of hobby and painting, this month's Golden Demon coverage looks at some fantastic paint jobs featuring creating textures with nothing more than paint and a brush. If you're looking to add some depth and character to your miniatures, this section is for you as painting textures really brings a model to life and conveys so much more than you are able to with just colours. The Modelling and Painting section of the magazine also features a cadre of Imperial Knights so fans of these towering metal behemoths are in for a treat.
Paint Splatter seems larger than usual as there are tons of tutorials this month for Necromunda and Craftworld modes with an added focus on skin tones (take note painting enthusiasts).
That more or less covers the main features of this month's White Dwarf and there's quite a bit of inspirational material to work with or to get you started. Remember to drop on by Warhammer Red House if you're in the area tomorrow, 4th November to take a look at some of the awesome work done by our local hobby enthusiasts!
Verdict: 8/10