U.K. White Dwarf #326: Bringing Arnor to the Imperials

This review should have been posted a couple of days ago, but unfortunately I got all caught up in the history of linguistics and frankly couldn't spare an hour more on U.K. White Dwarf 326. Still, did you know that India had started working on the question of language more than three thousand years ago and that the study of grammar had become an intellectual end in itself eons before the grandparents of Socrates were born? Oh, you did. Sorry about that, then. On with the review it is. This months UK WD review and not linguistics it is...

General content and ads: Nothing special here besides Jervis Johnson's rant on using special characters and RAW ("rules as written"), some promising ads regarding Warmaster and a few beautifully painted Blood Bowl teams, a mention of this summer's WHFB campaign, an ad on the brand new Aeronautica Imperialis board game, lots of mainly LoTR related new releases, some Black Library stuff and sneak peaks of both the Dark Angels and the Eldar Harlequins. Nothing special indeed, especially considering that an utterly stunning 6-page piece on master painter/sculptor Mike Anderson and a swift intro to the Citadel Miniatures Hall are also included. (8.5/10)

Golden Demon 2006 Winners: That's this issue's freebie and it's an 18-paged booklet featuring this year's Golden Demon winners, thus this years most exquisitely painted and/or imaginatively converted miniatures and dioramas. The quality of the photos is perfect and so are their subjects. An excellent little booklet. (10/10)

Warhammer: For the second time in a row Warhammer players will have to put up with the Empire and the Empire only. There's a very good fluff/painting article detailing the colors and heraldry of imperial provinces and city-states, 2 pages showcasing three whole buildings of the empire, and an 'Eavy Metal piece dealing with imperial heroes and the Steam Tank. (6/10)

Warhammer 40k: Let me see now... well, you 40kers don't get a Battle Report (as you might have been expecting), but you do get a nice tactica on using reserves and a decent Leman Russ Battle Tank Modelling Workshop. Uhm, nothing else I'm afraid... (4/10)

Lord of the Rings: Easily the focus of the issue. The LotR section includes an excellent look at the Ruin of Arnor sourcebook, where you get to meet Aragorn's dad Arathorn in miniature form and learn all about Grey Companies and bands of Trolls, a great Battle Report featuring said Companies, and fast-painting guide (yes, t'has to be on them Grey Companies again). Oh, apparently there quite a bit of instore stuff regarding Arnor going on too. (8/10)

High point: Jakob Nielsen's Inquisitor as shown in the Golden Demon booklet on p. 14.

Low point: A DTP error eating up half a paragraph (or so) of the Battle Report.

In a nutshell: Another above average issue with too much filler content, but also one featuring the Golden Demon booklet. If beautiful minis mean something to you, then I 'm afraid you'll have to buy it.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: White Dwarf 325, Battle for Skull Pass review, Blood Bowl: the novel, Warhammer Archive


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