U.K. White Dwarf #324: The return of the review

Yes, yes, I'm generally aware of stuff, especially when it's obvious and even if it's my complete and utter failure to review issues 321, 322 and 323 of the usually over-priced but always colorful (and -okay- fun to read) White Dwarf magazine. Good news is that I'll be reviewing WD 324 right after finishing this paragraph. Bad news is that you'll never get to know just how great an issue no. 321 was (it even had two nice miniatures as a gift; a night goblin and a dwarf) and I'll never know whether issues 322 or 323 were worth getting. Anyway, on to the latest of Games Workshop's periodical offerings (official info is freely available here). On to the 128 pages long White Dwarf issue 324.

General content and ads: Right. Nothing spectacular here, but you 'll get an editorial, some Eldar, Empire and gaming accessories centered ads, slightly spiced up with Lord of the Rings, Black Library and Forge World forthcoming releases. Beginners will be happy to read a pretty decent Welcome to Wargaming feature -a glorified GW brochure, really- that does an ok job of giving them splendid spending ideas. Oh, and Jervis Johnson has a nice and almost personal gaming rant, while lots of nice miniatures are showcased in 10 impressive Golden Demon pages. (7/10)

Warhammer: Ah, yes. Warhammer indeed. And as the cover suggests, there's a pretty brilliant 18-pages long WHFB Battle Report in which 5,000 points of Bretonnians and Wood Elves defend a keep (and their chastity & panties) from 8,000 points of depraved Dark Elves. Kinky. Then you can relax and read a nice Deployment Tactica, that covers the basics and even offers a nice idea or two, or even drool over an amazing Empire Army painted by Gareth Hamilton. As far as video games go, well... uhm... surprisingly Warhammer Mark of Chaos gets a nice 4-pager. (8/10)

Warhammer 40k: Ever heard of Lilia Mundi? No? Perhaps of Saim-Hann, then? Really? Well, you'll find out all about these things in WD's Iron Will, Iron Blood campaign; a well-thought-out series of missions and photos accompanied by a decent amount of fluff. Lots of pointless Eldar Walkers are also included. And not much else. (4/10)

Lord of the Rings: The Serpent Strikes is another campaign and is conveniently filled with excellent modelling projects, easily adjustable for the Warhammer universe. Film Reference, on the other hand, is a cunningly disguised attempt to force you (yes, you unsuspecting reader) to paint your LoTR miniatures the movie way, totally unlike the impressive Easterling army that gets the Army Showcase treatment. (7/10)

High point: Well... the Battle Report I guess.

Low point: More than 20 pages of non-content.

In a nutshell: A good issue, really. Especially for Warhammer lovers. Nothing to get paranoid about though...

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Chaos Dwarfs!, a silly WHFB video, White Dwarf issue #1 PDF


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