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Now before we start on this discussion, can I please request that we use this thread as to what we WANT from White Dwarf, not what we don't want. Thanks. Instead, think of this as your chance to say what you would actively like to see in WD. Accept that all of the existing pages are going to be there, but if you could add another 20 pages, what would they have on them? Standard Bearer, Frontline, New Releases are all still in the magazine, but what types of articles could be added?

If we all accept that there are GW staff on here and hopefully some WD staff lurking too, can we not use this as a positive thing and provide suggestions of things we'd actively want to see in future editions? As I've mentioned in other threads, personally, I enjoy the magazine, but I understand that others don't. There are a variety of reasons for this which have been discussed ad infinitum in other threads so let's not have another tedious thread filled with "I think it's over-priced", "I don't like how it's just a catalogue now", "Their tactics in the recent battle report were rubbish", etc etc. If all they did was to ADD content, what would make you buy it if you don't already?

I remember years ago, they did a reader survey on what was wanted in the magazine, but that only asks existing readers to the magazine. If you don't buy it, here is a chance to say what you would like and we can only hope that one of the WD staff read it. I'm not sure if this thread would actually help to change the magazine, but surely it's worth a shot.

For my vote, since I'm primarily a painter and modeller, I'd like to see more indepth painting guides with more detail. Perhaps following specific painters as they show EVERY stage in painting a particular part of a model. It's quite frustrating following a painting guide where the first three stages are clearly "add a layer of paint colour x" and then the fourth stage has clearly had about 5 layers of expertly blended painting. This could even be done as a half page in 8 or 9 consecutive magazines to reduce the amount of space taken up in each magazine, so that a regular reader would have all parts. I'd like more basing tutorials too please! The hobby content of the magazine has definitely improved, but I always want more more more! The 'Army Masters' in the latest issue (352) is a good start, but lets have more! I seem to remember, in the issues of about 15 years ago, there were some very nice pages of 'eavy metal miniatures that was just a random collection of models painted to a great standard where you would always see that one inspirational model that you weren't expecting, or that one great conversion. More of that too please. Also, while we're there, could EVERY new plastic box set that comes out have a guide to all of the bits please? I don't mind if this is on the website rather than in the magazine, but they're very helpful and having a permanent reference really helps with conversion potential.

i like it im a subscriber and get it early yay lol
its good help to read but personally i would like more pictures of converted models and how to guides
i love the bat reps there great
also they could add maybe some background to help some people pick what miniatures they want if they want to start a new collection.
anyway thats my input i hope there are WD editors on this site

Non 'eavy metal models. Bloody sick of them, not inspiring at all, give me actual hobbyists armies.

Lord Malorne wrote:Non 'eavy metal models. Bloody sick of them, not inspiring at all, give me actual hobbyists armies.

Right on

jammy wrote:i like it im a subscriber and get it early yay lol
its good help to read but personally i would like more pictures of converted models and how to guides

Yes we need more modeling guides

so we dont want eavy metal models then lol

Gentlemen, grammar and punctuation are your friends.

I'd like to see the return of "Chapter Approved" articles. Cool special characters, special missions, and other gaming related articles.

Can I just reiterate that I'd like this thread to be about what we DO want, not what we don't. Some people will like the eavy metal style, some won't, but think of the thread as what to ADD to WD, not take away. And anyway, models that haven't been released yet need to be painted by someone to show them off and it makes sense for the inhouse painters to do them.

It would be nice to see more armies from other painters out there though. Maybe showcase an army from each GT, or one from each GW store or something like that?

Add non 'eavy metal models and lots of them, also things for players to do, like the chapter approved articles, the warhammer chronicles (is that what it was called) and as always, more SG material.

More articles that show alternative ways of playing the game. Away from the standard tournament/points match style of gaming that's making the hobby a tad stale IMHO. Things like narrative campaigns and scenarios that don’t rely on equal points values, that sort of thing. Apocalypse has helped in this regard but I'd like to see that same attitude applied to smaller games as well. Also a focus on making armies which are fun as opposed to making them 'competitive'.

More modelling and painting articles that are aimed at the average hobbyist. Evey metal stuff is all very well and good but articles on that sort of thing aren't going to apply to 95% of the readership.

Finally (and most controversial I imagine) more LotR/WotR coverage. This is a core game but has to fight to get anything more than about 10% of the magazine or perhaps 15-20% on a major release. Is 1/3 of the magazine really too much to ask for?

In WD, i like painting tutorials. REAL honest tutorials like the ones shown in March issue.

Not the old stupid copy pasta type they used to show ( with awful results too )

LuciusAR wrote:
Finally (and most controversial I imagine) more LotR/WotR coverage. This is a core game but has to fight to get anything more than about 10% of the magazine or perhaps 15-20% on a major release. Is 1/3 of the magazine really too much to ask for?

Yes, yes it is.

I'd be very happy if they got their own magazine entirely dedicated to LotR, that way it will show just how much everyone loves it...

More "Army of the Month" articles. The World Eaters one from this issue was pretty good. Bit of shame to start this again and then say it will only be an irregular series.

We're overcomplicating this. Let's start simple.

"What additional content do we want from WD?"

See, 'additional' seems to imply that there is actual content to start with, and this is clearly false. What we want from WD is some content. That would be a great start.

HBMC, that's exactly the sort of post I was trying to avoid. This thread is intended to be a way of expressing what you would like to see in WD, not just yet another thread for moaning about it. Clearly a monthly magazine is potentially a very useful resource. How can it be made better than it is at the moment?

I'd prefer to see Battle Reports go back to the more narrative style, almost the short story ones they used to do. Always entertaining reads.

Now, considering WD is an entry level magazine, with occasional useful articles for crusty gamers, I'm not sure.

The occasional army list would be fun, especially if linked to a published campaign. Came across an old WD (311 IIRC) the other day, and that contained a Cairn Dead army lead by Kemmler and Krell, and the Skaven Moulder list. Brilliant issue that!

A new monthly column "Recipes from the Imperial Commissareate" with handy baking tips. What?

needs more lotr

Lord Malorne wrote:

LuciusAR wrote:
Finally (and most controversial I imagine) more LotR/WotR coverage. This is a core game but has to fight to get anything more than about 10% of the magazine or perhaps 15-20% on a major release. Is 1/3 of the magazine really too much to ask for?

Yes, yes it is.

I'd be very happy if they got their own magazine entirely dedicated to LotR, that way it will show just how much everyone loves it...

This really isn't the place to get into a discussion about the relative merits of the LotR system however the thread is about what you would like to see in WD and I personally would like to see more coverage for one of my favourite game systems. Considering that there are 3 core games, each game should get on average around 1/3 of the magazine and so I don’t think it's an unreasonable request.

As to the separate magazine argument, Its obvious that your implication is that no one would buy it. I'd just like to point out that there was once a separate LotR magazine called Battle Games in Middle earth published by GW and Diagostini that to this day is the most successful magazine Diagostini ever published, so that would seem to put your go against your hypothesis.

Also the amount of 'hobby content' in Bgime quite frankly put WD to shame. If they re-issued it (and I hope they do as I missed allot of it the first time round) I'd quite happily do without WD altogether.

Battle reports that actually explain why the players are doing what they do and why, what they percieve as threats from the opponents army and a run down on the list and why the chose what they chose. I remember a few battle reports like this such as a Tomb Kings vs Brettonian match up (the Brets were painted like Knights Templar) and begrudingly Gav Thorpe using Beastmen vs Wood Elves they were some awesome reports.

Also a return to hobbyist generated content like Jeff Long's the Art of Warhammer and I think it was Mike McVey's series of articles about him and his mates playing Warhammer in his garage and the tactical problems they had and how to overcome them, they are the only WD I have kept as I read them infrequently as I still get tips on how to play even now.

Content I'd like to see in WD:

Explorations in the fluff. Rather than hear for the 45th time how butch Cadians are, spotlight a Regiment/Craftworld/Kabal/Hive Fleet that is less known. Give fluff, descriptions of how they normally fight, an example of how to play them on the battle field, modeling and painting tips, and maybe even an apocolypse data sheet or a "campaign only" special character. Something like what BolS does with the macharian crusade and Heresy. Done properly, there would be fluff, painting, gameplay, and maybe even new rules.

New Scenarios

Army Profiles of hobbyist armies

Articles that explain new and interesting ways to play the game. the best example I saw was the "low fantasy" article for WFB, which explained how to play with armies that emphasize a grittier, less poofy mentality. They could do one for 40k about city fight, or maybe provide rules for unsupported forces. This could segue into a campaign setting.

In addition to what been said already...

Narrative battle reports - as mentioned by MDG, say what you want about gav thorpe but he could write a very good battle report. I almost bought gorkamorka on the strength of one of his gorkamorka battle reports and they were always an excellent read.

Golden demon back in the mag - there are multiple golden demon contests in the world (US, UK, France, Poland, Germany, etc), probably enough for 1 to be published every month or two

More Tales of X gamers - These are always inspiring and it is great to see armies grow organically and gradually

Specialist games - not going to happen but I'd love to see some features on specialist games (scenarios, overviews, eavy metal, etc)

Daemonette centrefold pullout feature - a man can dream

Freebies - and not just posters, but minis, terrain, even cardstock buildings were always appreciated when they were offered.

I would like to see a different specialist game highlighted every month. It might be a good way to get more people to play them, and justify more mini sales in things like BFG and Necromunda.

I also would like to see the more narrative battle reports. I used to read them in WD before I even got into 40K/WHFB.

I think a Direct-Order Coupon would be cool, too. Find a nice mini, give 15% off if you include the coupon code. Have to find a way so a person can't just open the magazine and take the code though. Or make it good for one specific model only.

Hell yes, more Golden Demon pictures! They inspired me just as much in my first days of GW hobby as they do now and help to bring new people to the hobby. Some of the stuff painted by non-UK hobbyists is just astonishingly good so it would be great to see more of it.

Firstly, some content.

And remove LotR and put in its own Minizeen.

oh i forgot yes more tales of 4 gamers they were great

Honestly, I'd like to see a bit more in-depth writing... Tactical analysis, differences between painting techniques, articles on conversion, or even basics of designing your own scratchbuild projects.

Not being a regular reader, but being a rather fast reader, I get the same impression from WD that I got from the Lego club magazine... written for younger kids so they can get their parents to buy them more kits.

Review and feature 3rd party materials: Do a review for various tools, bitz, etc., since GW's average long-term customer is going to go looking for them eventually, anyhow.


just my pair o' teef...

A letters page that's prepared to include criticism and answers from either the ed or JJ (back in the day we had one, like other magazines).

Photos and results lists, possibly even battle reports from the tournaments around the world, show us this is a hobby unto its self.

Something like chaper approved used to be, highlights and details of fluff on little known Chapters, Regiments and Craftworlds, 'histories' of battles and ways to reenact them with senarios.

More Eavy Metal with ranges of miniatures and painting showcases that are NOT direct tie-ins with the latest release.

Posters, miniatures, free terrain.

Make it a hobby magazine, make it interactive and responsive, give it a sense of the community and not a rediculously priced catalogue. As it stands, it's worth little more than the promotionals posted through my door to make me aware of the loss leaders at a garden centre (I live in a flat).

Gwar! wrote:Firstly, some content.

And remove LotR and put in its own Minizeen.

Actually I take it back. I've been going over my old issues of BGIME after talking about it earlier and I've realized that the quality of the hobby articles and gaming ideas are far superior to anything WD has had in it in years. Certainly in later issues, once the basics had been covered and the collection of models, and therefore possibilities, available was large enough BGIME was everything WD should be aspiring to be. The articles being very much at veteran gamer level by this stage.

So as result perhaps I think I'd like to see LotR/WotR with its own magazine. On the strict conditions that the same team was brought in to oversee it and It's philosophy remained the same as BGIME. If they want to give away toys and keep it thin in terms of page numbers that’s fine (There was more hobby content in 20 pages of BGIME than in the 100+ pages of any recent issue of WD) or they just want to just have it as a magazine they can either reduce the price or up the pages. I don’t even mind if the pages don’t increase significantly. Ill take quality over quantity any day of the week.

So whilst I think it would be shame to see the hobby magazine split up I think its increasingly apparent that, for whatever reason, the presence of the game in WD is resented by many hobbyists. Perhaps we LotR/WotR gamers should realise they are simply not welcome and band together and form the magazine the game deserves as opposed so setting for the token amount of coverage that we are begrudgingly given in WD. All I can say though is that it really would be WD's loss.

Apologies BTW for derailing the thread from the OP.

k.... this is either a really stupid idea, or the coolest one yet... that GW never thought of.


I want 1 poster sized cut out ( or 2 page sized ) in every issue of WD.

1 side is GW art, the other side is that month's calander.