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Almost completely negative response.....*sighs* I had actually been heavily considering it.

Well, thanks for letting me know everyone! So its $70.00 best spent on models...or sent to one of you....or burned....rather than spent on WD

Thanks again, I'll be sure to steer clear of it!

The first white dwarf I got was in the late 200rds about 283 soemthing liek that . It was abit messy then , but still ahd some nice free stuff. Army sheets extra. I did really enjoy white dwaf around 300 + to aboutr 2 years ago the sections were very clear 40k fantasy extra. There was soem very nice content and tips , battle reports. I liekd how the writers had there own section ansd peope lgot to write in . However I dont liek it lately it feels abit mechanical, aimed at advertising , the newset prdouct .i know it always ahs been but lately it has to, to the ful lextent .Suscripe if you want though I have done a few times in the past. Not this year though couldnt be bothered .It is a good read now and a again.

There is no way I would subscribe to White Dwarf in its current state (although I admit I might consider it if I could get German language issues in the US).

However, I did get a big stack of older WD's from a fellow Dakkaite, and they make for some entertaining reading. As others have said, if you really want GW content, buying a stack of old issues is probably your best bet, as WD is currently not worth the high subscription price.

If you want a good magazine on miniatures wargaming in general, with a large variety of interesting and useful articles, I'd recommend looking into Wargames Illustrated. Now that's a magazine I'd actually consider buying a subscription for.

I thought WI was owned by Battlefront now? I would expect an increasing FoW slant in WI from now on as happened with WD 20 odd years ago. Not that I would expect Battlefront to go quite to the extremes of GW but they have based allot of their business model on them to date.

In my opinion while the content is of mixed quality, the quality of the miniatures and boards in the pictures is pretty fantastic; so between those two factors it is occassionally woth it for me to get a copy from time to time, plus I really do want that subscription Squat. [I should also point out that I was drunk the last time I bought White Dwarf]

To the OP I would say this, if you have been enjoying WD then buy it.

Lord of Kaith wrote:Almost completely negative response.....*sighs* I had actually been heavily considering it.

Well, thanks for letting me know everyone! So its $70.00 best spent on models...or sent to one of you....or burned....rather than spent on WD

Thanks again, I'll be sure to steer clear of it!

GW could drop White Dwarf, and wouldn't even notice it gone. All it is is an expensive sales pamphet with nothing in it but, "Look at the lickies and chewies, you KNOW you want to buy them!!!" Your money would be better spent buying anything else other then that book of garbage.

Spend the money on models and your local used book shop where the back issues will be turning up, every now and then.


People dump this mag as fast as they buy it. Sometimes, you can get the back issues from friends who might not mind giving them up.

When I first got into GW back in 2004, I bought every WD I could get my hands on. As a new player to the GW universe, all the articles were a great read, even though I didn't quite know all of the systems. Six years later, I'll thumb through a current issue to see if there's anything interesting. If so, I'll get it. If not, I'll save my cash. I subscribed for one year and found it not to be worth it.

Pros: for newbies, I think a lot of the painting and assembling articles were very informative and the pictures, especially Golden Demon reports, were inspiring.

Cons: the constant shill of the newest unit gets old. Battle reports are skewed and unplayable. Along with a $9 price tag, that's just too steep for me. They should get other advertisers, lower their prices and in turn increase distribution.

My two cents.

I wouldnt because if you only play one game i.e 40k it wouldnt be worth it so I only buy it if theres something that grabs my attention.

I've shat things with more useful hobby information than WD.

My FLGS always has too many copies so I usually get it for free. In other words, I can't complain too much

I tend to buy the occassional issue myself. I'm the guy that flips through it before buying. If there's something in it for my chosen army (ORKS!) I may very well get it. Otherwise, it depends.

First off, I find it to be inspiring - seeing the games played and the models displayed. So for that alone, it is a great deal of fun and worth some cash.

$9 an issue seems like a lot. Are all magazines this much? I don't buy magazines really (except WD) so I don't know.

I am happiest when there are a few rules supplements in the mag or useful tutorials I can use to improve my game. It seems that less of the rules supplements find their way into WD anymore, though - it's like they save these for expansions instead. The rules for Apocalypse, for example, would have fit into one WD article - and they could have published datasheets in future issues. To me, this would have made me want to buy the magazine.

All that said, I do enjoy the occasional issue. And it is nice for keeping up to date with tournaments and so forth. I do play all three of their flagship games (4 if you count WOTR as a separate game) so no problems there.

If you find yourself buying one every single month, it is time to consider a subscription. If not, you may just be happier picking and choosing like me.

I buy it every month when it hits the shelf, and always enjoy it. I usually read the issue several times (admittedly, often to look at the photos of new stuff). I just like reading it in magazine form - I also consume a lot of their online material.

notprop wrote:I thought WI was owned by Battlefront now? I would expect an increasing FoW slant in WI from now on as happened with WD 20 odd years ago. Not that I would expect Battlefront to go quite to the extremes of GW but they have based allot of their business model on them to date.

Wargames Illustrated is owned by Battlefront now, but they have certainly not turned it into a FoW magazine. It's still Wargames Illustrated, not Flames of War Illustrated.

While there are Flames of War articles, if you check out the website you'll see that there are tons of non-FoW articles. They have information and scenarios for all kinds of other periods and they have reviews, ads, and info for other game systems and miniatures companies. On the website now they've currently got a review of Scarab Miniatures WWI French line, and a Battle of Brunanburh article that features orders of battle for Warhammer Ancient Battles and Warmaster Ancients. Other articles I've seen include topics as varied as the War of 1812, the English Civil War, and WWI, among others, and they've featured other minis companies like Perry Bros., Victrix, and Warlord. They even have subscription deals that feature products from those companies.

It seems like a good, legit magazine for wargaming in general, and Battlefront doesn't appear to have any intention of turning it onto a crappy WD-esque FoW magazine. There is a lot more collaboration with other companies, which I think is a pretty cool thing. GW could take a few pointers from Battlefront, in my opinion.

Check out the website if you want to see examples.

I get the idea that if Battlefront's business plan is to take a lot of cues from GW, it's to take them and not make the same mistakes.

Balance wrote:I get the idea that if Battlefront's business plan is to take a lot of cues from GW, it's to take them and not make the same mistakes.

If the way they are handling Wargames Illustrated and Gale Force Nine is any indication, they are doing a pretty good job so far. It seems like they are trying to diversify, rather than just trying to use these companies to support FoW (which really wouldn't make much sense in a lot of ways anyway).

I just got my second issue today actually, and so far I would have to say, not even a bit. I'da been happeir buying codexes for armies I dont like and peeing on em.

Funny to read some of these answers. I remember reading White Dwarf when they did AD&D scenarios and had a book review column and Thrud (Gawd bless 'im). White Dwarf is a fun read once a month for ideas and what's new. I like Jervis' take on the hobby being more about what you agree to play among friends rather than the rabid tournamentism that seems to have infected a lot of folks. I'm more of a sub 1000pt cities of death / kill team player who likes to think about Black Library close up combats. If you add up the cost over a year it may seem scary but I don't know what the US subscription offer is like, here in the UK we get a couple of issues free or something. From my perspective I can get a hobby fix for the price of an average lunch and then I can read it on the bog. I stop short of using it for bog paper though 'cos it'd be all scratchy.

Unless there's a ggod painting article in it, etc. then no.

I check it in the store, and if it has a masterclass painting article I will buy it, take it home, cut out the pages with the painting article, thumb brieflyt through the rest, then toss it and put the painting pages into my big snap folder of every white dwarf masterclass painting guide.

The masterclass painting guides are second to none and blow every internet painting guide out of the water. This for me is 3 reasons.

1. I hate trying to read guides of the internet while painting, I like having them with me. I also like reading guides on the train.

2. They have amazing step by step photos, and they cover a very wide range of different painting methods. Their Legion of the Damned masterclass was amazing, for example.

3. They use entirelly a range of paints I know and own. I own the entire GW paint range. I never read a GW paint guide and go, that looks cool but i dont own the paints.

How many times have you read an internet guide and it goes, start with GW paint a, then use vallejeo paint B, then use PP paint c and highlight with reaper paint d and f. So useless to me. I might own 1 or 2 of the paints. I never have this problem with GW guides.

Plus the different guides are all there in my single folder easy to thumb through.

If they released a hard cover book of just white dwarf master class issues reprinted, id probably buy it for 100 dollars or so.

But if the white dwarf doesnt have a masterclass painting guide I will usually skip it.

Roleplayer wrote:I check it in the store, and if it has a masterclass painting article I will buy it, take it home, cut out the pages with the painting article, thumb brieflyt through the rest, then toss it and put the painting pages into my big snap folder of every white dwarf masterclass painting guide.

The masterclass painting guides are second to none and blow every internet painting guide out of the water. This for me is 3 reasons.

1. I hate trying to read guides of the internet while painting, I like having them with me. I also like reading guides on the train.

2. They have amazing step by step photos, and they cover a very wide range of different painting methods. Their Legion of the Damned masterclass was amazing, for example.

3. They use entirelly a range of paints I know and own. I own the entire GW paint range. I never read a GW paint guide and go, that looks cool but i dont own the paints.

How many times have you read an internet guide and it goes, start with GW paint a, then use vallejeo paint B, then use PP paint c and highlight with reaper paint d and f. So useless to me. I might own 1 or 2 of the paints. I never have this problem with GW guides.

Plus the different guides are all there in my single folder easy to thumb through.

If they released a hard cover book of just white dwarf master class issues reprinted, id probably buy it for 100 dollars or so.

But if the white dwarf doesnt have a masterclass painting guide I will usually skip it.

FW has a masterclass book, and its slightly less then $100

"Worth" is relative and subjective.

It is really up to you whether or not it is "worth it".

I looked at the forge world masterclass and wasnt impressed at all.

It lacked the good step by step instructions of white dwarf, lacked the good step by step photos, the exact painting mixes and was mostly about tanks.

And was all about how to make them look realistic as well, which is something i dont care about.

I was also very unimpressed with how to paint citdel miniatures. I dont want pages explaining techniques. I just want pages of different models being painted step by step, so I can see different ways of applying paints and what different combos and styles look like.

I like the evy metal cartoony style. I hate the forgeworld imperial guard gritty muddy dull style.

I want a book which is literally just the painting guides from white dwarf, every single one, bound into a single volume. it wouldnt need any editing at all, IMO.
Tho I have basically build this book myself in my snap folder.

No

I find looking back at old white dwarf (12+ months ago) makes them a much better read. You'll be disappointed when they first come out, because all it seems to say is 'oo look look Blood angels' but in a years time you might notice some decent hobby articles in there.

Even though I only started getting WD at issue 250 (when some people say it stated going downhill) my favourite articles are in the 310-330 range. There are lot of army showcases (sometimes 2 or 3 per issue), and even some battle reports between non-gw armies; these are by far my favourite parts as it shows off the HOBBY not the MODELS.
I agree that there is so much more that could/should be done with it, and I understand that people don't like it; but I enjoy getting my April 2010 magazine, dutifully putting it in a box for next year, then opening up my April 2009 magazine for the first time

To the OP - Dont subscribe at first. Skim through them in the store, see if its interesting, and pick them up on a case by case basis.

Then, if you find you are picking up more than you are leaving behind, then consider subscribing.

I did this for a year, and then subscribed. Ive read the old ones - they are indeed different to the newer ones. I dont see that much difference, but Im more interested in the painting articles and eavy metal step by step guides than I am in the battle reports and fluff.

Lord of Kaith wrote:I bought an issue of WD and was impressed with it, however I'm not sure I'm willing to hand over the $70 for a one year subscription. In your experience, is it worth it?

You're paying for them to advertise.

I like white dwarf. But I don't really think of it as a magazine per se, magazines are cheap. It's a monthly hobby catalog where I can see cool pics of new models. Something good to flip through while I'm on the potty.

Before this month I would have said yes I like it very much I know there is a lot of advertising there but to be quite honest when you want something to read on the toilet looking at the nice pictures is fairly interesting and as time cosuming as you want it to be.

However this month the vast majority of the mag is all about f****ng LOTR the most pointless and shamlessly sales orientated games system in the history of modelkind. This pretty much cheesed me off as I am a subscriber and I look forward to that day (around about the 20th of the month before the publication date) that my WD arrived. I got this one and my reaction was MEH that's great £5.00 (or whatever it is) for a few nice photos and the usual drivel from JJ on absolute crap.

Don't subscribe buy it on a monthly basis after having a sneaky flick through one in the shop.

Frazzled wrote:

Lord of Kaith wrote:I bought an issue of WD and was impressed with it, however I'm not sure I'm willing to hand over the $70 for a one year subscription. In your experience, is it worth it?

You're paying for them to advertise.

As opposed to buying any other magazine that advertises other peoples stuff?

I subscribe, in UK at least you can get it in a box with a limited edition mini for £40 - £48 or similar. It's totally not worth it, but I enjoy it, see it as part of the hobby and, without meaning to sound funny - can afford it and waste my money on stuff I enjoy less than this (my monthly travel card is 3 x the cost of the sub for a year). So I figure why not?

Lord of Kaith wrote:I bought an issue of WD and was impressed with it, however I'm not sure I'm willing to hand over the $70 for a one year subscription. In your experience, is it worth it?

I can never justify buying the subscription myself as my main motivation to buy WD is actual game/rules content, and that has not been WD's strength since they became mostly an advertising vehicle in recent years...

I hope that Spear Head meets with success and that WD gets back to it's roots a little bit more as a result...




Automatically Appended Next Post:

Ed_Bodger wrote: LOTR the most pointless and shamlessly sales orientated games system in the history of modelkind.

Wouldn't that be Heroclix and similar actually?