Post by Fadril Adren on Sept 12, 2016 17:02:55 GMT -5
In a week’s time White Dwarf returns bigger and better than ever. Editor Jes Bickham has a few words to say about it…
Momentous times are upon us all! But they have not come without a cost. Members of the White Dwarf team lie slumped over their desks, their breathing ragged, their eyes sunken and their skin sallow from lack of sunlight. Lead Designer Matt Hutson has taken to drinking the hobby room’s supplies of Agrax Earthshade to avoid dehydration, while writer Dan Harden chews desperately on a sprue of Skaven Clanrats to make it through to morning. These proud warriors have worked day and night for long aeons to create the best version yet of Games Workshop’s hobby magazine; under the watchful eye of Grombrindal himself (ie, me, as the White Dwarf’s representative on this plane of existence) they have gone far beyond the call of duty to produce perfection. The cost to their sanity and health has been great – but see how happy they are! For they are sure, as am I, that the new monthly White Dwarf will knock your socks off. If you’re wearing a hat, please hold on to it.
We’ve learnt a lot of lessons in the last few years, first when we relaunched White Dwarf in 2012 (October, to be precise, with the Chaos Space Marines Maulerfiend on the cover), and then again in 2014, when we took the radical step of going weekly. For the last two-and-a-half years White Dwarf has arrived in stores and through letterboxes every seven days, a huge achievement and one which, we think, did the glory of Games Workshop’s products justice.
But you can only do so much in a weekly magazine and in 32 pages, and some things were difficult to incorporate properly. Battle reports, for instance, which take space to do justice to – more than we ever had in the weekly. And so when the chance came around to relaunch White Dwarf again, I seized the opportunity to pitch a version of the magazine that would, we all hoped, be the ultimate ideal of White Dwarf; something big, glossy, in-depth, fun and personal, that would be able to service all strands of the hobby we all love so much. Not just the glory of ‘Eavy Metal-painted Citadel miniatures, and modelling and painting, but battlefields and background and the glory of gaming in all its forms. And so one fateful day I stood quaking in the topmost tower of the Games Workshop citadel, describing what we all thought would be a thrilling new version of White Dwarf, and it was with huge relief that the shadowy besuited figures who control our fates nodded as one and intoned, in a chorus that sounded like lead blocks smashing together, “do it. And make sure it’s got a cool free gift.” So we did. And it has!
And so here we are, a week away from the release of a bold new era for White Dwarf, and the team – despite their exhaustion – are beyond excited to share it with you. In its 156 pages you’ll find such delights as the following:
– Planet Warhammer, an exhaustive and exciting new news section full of the latest releases from Games Workshop, and more.
– A Tale of Four Warlords, detailing a quartet of personal hobby journeys through building, painting and playing games.
– A mind-blowing Eldar Army of the Month. (It’s got three Titans in it!)
– 20 pages of all-new and exclusive gaming content for nine boxed games, including Warhammer Quest Silver Tower, Deathwatch: Overkill, Space Hulk and more.
– A huge Warhammer Age of Sigmar battle report. It’s got arrows and people and everything!
– Temporal Distort: a regular look back at a White Dwarf of yore.
– Extensive Designers Notes on the new Deathwatch Codex and miniatures.
– The weird and wonderful world of Blanchitsu.
– Art, painting guides, modelling fun, and much, much, much more.
It’s big, it’s packed, and it’s got a Slaughterpriest with Hackblade and Wrath-hammer attached to the cover, ready for you to use in the new boxed game Gorechosen. We couldn’t be happier with it and next week, you’ll get to see it for yourselves. Please be sure to let us know what you think of it; it goes without saying that we also developed the new White Dwarf with you, our readers and customers, in mind, and we want you to tell us what you want to see more or less of. The future starts now!
Author: Jes Bickham
Launch Editor, White Dwarf