The second part of my White Dwarf contents review, Games Workshop have done a great job on this issue
(nb: the photo on the right is NOT the cover, see link below for cover pic).The 1st part of the review is here:- White Dwarf July 2010 review
The first big Fantasy article starts with the title "War Never Ending"
(14 pages long, including the excellent pics)
It really sets the scene and theme of the new Warhammer rulebook and the work GW have been doing to flesh out and elaborate on events and the history of the Warhammer World itself. The Rulebook contains 116 pages, written by Phil Kelly covering Warhammer history and background. The White Dwarf article really emphasizes the immediacy and urgency of the wars raging between all of the races and gives a sense that it's reaching it's climax (darkness or order !).
The 14 page article also contains sections dedicated to the Warhammer Battles section (102 pages in the rulebook) and the Miniatures Showcase section (110 pages). Which I guess means the rules themselves take up 204 pages).
Anyway, it's an interesting read with a lot of great photos (if only my battles looked like that !)
Illuminations - the Art of Warhammer
(8 pages of some excellent artwork)
Talk about the thinking, history and purpose behind Warhammer artwork.
Call to Arms
(6 pages of army lists)
Suggested army lists from GW Studio Staff including High Elves 2500pts, Ogres 3000pts, Dwarfs 3000pts, Wood Elves 2000pts, Warriors of Chaos 3000pts. A few nice insights and tips.
Last Stand of the Slaughterer
(24 page Battle Report : 3,500pts Empire vs Orcs and Goblins)
Stunning battle report including the use of new mysterious terrain and scenery including the Wizards Tower, Wyrding Well, Blessed Bulwark and Wildwood. They record victory points at the end of each turn, at the conclusion one side almost achieves a crushing victory on the enemy (double their number of victory points).
A win is now +100 victory points more than your enemy (apparently, there is a mistake in the rulebook [!!!] which says double your enemy pts is a win. Note: double points is a crushing victory, not just a win).
Standard Bearer
(3 pages by Jervis Johnson)
About the new rulebook and how GW have focused on making it more than just a set of rules and have aimed to create a book that will help realize the full potential in the Warhammer hobby.
Fields of Glory
(4 pages on Mysterious Terrain and 2 pages showing of an example Battlefield)
There are dozens of examples of this kind of terrain and scenery in the rulebook. The White Dwarf article focuses on 7 of the pieces, The Blessed Bulwark; Wyrding Well (drinking from it has unpredictable consequences which are generally good or mixed but could be as bad as "magical poisoning" - the unit cannot act for a turn - ouch !), Scree Slope (an excellent defensive position because it's not only a hill but is treacherous and can hurt those fleeing, charging and marching on it, on the d6 roll of a 1 for each model), Charnel Pit (mentioned in part I of my review, see above link); Blood Forest (a forest that reacts to magic and might attack and even move randomly 2d6" afterwards !); Sorcerous Portal and finally the Elven Waystone.
This is a really inspiring read because it's all new and a fantastic addition to the game - you'll love it (or at least, I did !)
Battlefield Terrain
(2 pages advert for Realm of Battle Gameboards)
An excellent battlefield full of GW terrain (depressing for me because I know I'll never get the time to create something like that !)
Battlefields
(4 pages of scenery created by GW model makers)
Another depressively awe-inspiring example of what can be done if you have the time and skills (mainly the skills this time !). It's a coastal raid by Dark Elves on a High Elf rocky coastal bastion. It looks fantastic although it's a bit impractical to play a battle on.
The Legion of Despair
(8 pages covering individual models and units from a Vampire Counts army)
A nice army indeed. It's painted slightly differently to many undead armies you'll see. The choices of colours have been quite imaginative and the terrain and scenery included within the units themselves is great. Lots of conversion work and some good stuff to inspire some experimental modeling. The zombie unit conversions and crypt ghouls clambering over plinths and tombstones are fantastic. A very nice article.
Eavy Metal Showcase - Clash of Champions
4 incredible one-on-one "duel" dioramas including Warrior Priest vs Chaos Lord, Waywatcher and Dryad vs Wargor and Tyrion himself vs Malekith's personal champion (my money's on Tyrion !) Great painting, as always from the Eavy Metal crew (see example below).
Images are from White Dwarf and are © Games Workshop. All rights reserved. Used without permission.
