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I thought that it would be interesting to go back and take a look at all 12 of the 2010 White Dwarf Issues, looking at content, what they did well, and what they did poorly. I will be breaking this article up into 4 parts due to length. So, here goes:

January: Legion of the Damned/Tyranids
Award: Upset of the Year
In this issue, Jervis talks about losing gracefully, and the Legion of the Damned overshadows the Tyranids in the Tyranids Showcase month. We also get a tutorial on how to paint models so that they look unpainted.

What they did Right: A nice spread of bits from the Trygon, a Painting Master class for the Damned Legionaries.

What they did Wrong:

1) The minor Space Marine release completely overshadowed the Tyranids. The Legionaries get almost as many pages as the 'Nids, they Get the Painting Masterclass, win the Batrep, and have a couple sample army lists. The Nids get a rather half-hearted army showcase, and their chitinous rears handed to them. Both receive some design notes.

2) The bat rep was ridiculously staged, by bat rep standards, and painful to read. Take, for example, the Raveners picture. First Photo you see, they have Scything Talons and Rending Claws, like the army list. Same with the next photo. The one after it, however, they have double scything talons. Fourth photo, they have a mix of the two. Also, the level of ridiculousness in the Tyranid List and strategy, is amazing.For Deployment, it looks like the units were chosen at random, and the list is worse, with the models often not even matching. It is almost like they told Cruddance that he was going to loose, with the army of the month.

3) Although the Skaven Scenarios and Terrain section were interesting, they were decidedly light on actual, solid stuff, and were all vague ideas.

Overall, in terms of quality, this is white dwarf #12.


February: Beastmen
Award: Most Improved (From the Previous Month)
This time we see a Planetstrike tactics article, some apocalypse datasheets for Tyranids, Lord of the Rings scenarios, some painting Articles, some Fantasy Tactics, and a Golden Demon Showcase.

What they did right: there were four (4) different sections with painting tips in them. The Tyranid datasheets were interesting (the Background… was weird), the tactics were basic, but good, and the Battle report was decent. Also, the standard Bearer was one of the better ones.

A good example of a White Dwarf that doesn’t focus on the army of the month.

What they did Wrong: Nothing huge. The battle Report was a little uneven, and a the fantasy tactics article was a little short, but it was altogether a good read. The Biggest one was they rather awkward Tyranid Fluff.

Overall, this was my favourite White Dwarf this year.

March: Battle Missions
This issue, we get a short story, Tactics for Fantasy and WotR, a Fantasy Scenario, and some Tyranid Love that was missing in January. There is freehand painting advice, and a Tyranid terrain article, with step-by-step instructions.

What they did right: All three systems got a tactics article. The Tyranid one is actually pretty good. Also, the hobby articles are pretty informative.

What they did wrong: The Valkyries scout move looks… off.

In my opinion, the 2nd best issue.

So, time for me to get off my soapbox stuffed with White Dwarves for now.

I think going over every white dwarf for the year might be too much for one thread. Besides, It seems like a lot of people have stopped collecting it. I stopped many, MANY years ago.

I did buy one this year though. Issue 366. Had the new Eldar Fire Prism (yep, I like Eldar). But really it was a waist of money. Unless there is some sort of Eldar only issue Im just not interested.

I appreciate this thread. A lot of shops have back issues, and if there is something I missed, I don't mind going back to pick it up.

Same here - plus it is interesting to see the year reviewed, analyzed and given some more thought.

I have 3 more issues left on my subscription, and I don't think inertia alone is going to be enough to get me to re-subscribe.

Which means for the first time in a LONG time, I might not be reading WD anymore.

Which, while well deserved on their part, still feels... odd.

Still, thanks for taking this task on and for sharing it with us!

I think this is a great idea.

Keep going!

I'm with Alpharius. I stopped reading a long time ago after realizing I was getting less and less added bonus to my enjoyment of the hobby and the 'inertia' just kinda dwindled and I never resubscribed. However, seeing which back issues might actually teach me something or be great reads of fluff or painting advice would be beneficial.

it has gone down hill for white dwarf. And My older brother does not know that....

I still buy every month mainly through force of habit, plus it gives me something to flick through on some of my weekly train journeys to London.

Keep going with your review. I'd forgotten that Tyranids actually lost their battle report.

So, here is the second part of the review.

April: Blood Angels
In addition to the usual design notes, this issue contains some Beastmen tactics, some Fantasy tactics, Rohan tactics, some conversions and a painting master class.

What they did Right: The Fantasy tactics continued in much the same manner as previous ones (simple, but good), and the Master class was a useful guide to painting non-metallic gold. Also, hidden away in the Army workshop part was a useful tip on getting basic infantry done well, quickly.

What they did wrong:

1) The battle report was rather poor. The Chaos list was rather poorly written and employed. The Khorne Berzerkers were on foot, and the Thousand Sons advanced towards an assault army, so were killed rather easily. The Chaos Marines were also guilty of rather poor target priority.

2) The design notes were about Blood Angels, and the weird logic that the 5th ed Blood angels are known for showed.

Overall, I would put this as the 6th White Dwarf of the Year.

May: Lord of the Rings: Battlehosts
Award: Best Standard Bearer
A War of the Rings supplement, More Fantasy tactics, Golden Demon pics, and More!

What they did right: They managed to make the WotR Battle report interesting. The Section on the Golden Demon Awards was a very good read, and the Battle Standard article enjoyable. It was the one where Jervis talked about how there is not enough story put into terrain placement. They also continued the Tradition of pretty decent Fantasy Tactics.

What they did wrong: They included an entire section on the Ringwraiths-with-Faces.

Overall, I would put this as 8th place, mostly because it is WotR centric.

June: Spearhead
A supplementary rule set, Official rules for a new unit, 4 Apocalypse Data Sheets, some Blood Angels Tactics, and a tank Gallery.

What they did Right: In addition to having one of the best Battle Reports of the Year, they included rules for a whole new unit, and rules for tank battles. Sure, Neither were very good, but both were free if you get white Dwarf anyways, and the rules for Spearhead were much cheaper than if you bought a full-sized rules supplement.

What they did wrong: Had they included the rules for the actual Spearheads, this issue would have been much improved.

Overall, a Pretty Decent issue, and I would put it in 7th Place

Good idea, now I can see if any of the issues are worth buying.

Like the criticism, more I say!

Good thread, can't wait to hear the rest of what I missed this year.

Agreed!

I had forgotten that I even bought an issue this year, which of course I did just for the Nightspinner rules.

July: Fantasy
Fantasy Design Notes, Fantasy Sample Armies, Fantasy Terrain Tips, Fantasy Army Masters

What they did Right: A nice look at the thoughts behind the new edition of Fantasy. The Terrain Tips were nice for ideas of where to start for some of the new terrain features.

What they did wrong: Not a single Article not devoted to Fantasy.

Overall, I put this one in 10th Place

August: Demons
Demons for Both Fantasy and 40k. A Demon Terrain Showcase, a Painting Master Class, and Plenty of Demons Background.

What they did Right: Useful Tactical Articles for both Systems. The Painting Master class also covers blending, which you tend not to see to often. The battle report was a cool one.

What they did Wrong: Nothing much, but there was nothing very impressive either.

I would call this one my 5th Favourite.

September: Island of Blood
In this Issue, we see background for the Island of Blood, Apocalypse Datasheets for Demons, and a good bit of painting stuff.

What they did Right: The bit on making the Terrain Board was interesting, and they had an “Ask the Heavy” metal segment. It also contained advice on painting tank camo.

What they did Wrong: Again, nothing much.

I would say that this is the Third best White Dwarf of the Year.

good idea , i dont buy white dwarfe anymore either , but its nice to see what i missed , can i suggest a front page scan added your posts , it was always the artwork i liked best anyway.

In retrospect, I would like to sum up 2010's WDs as:

'Still not as good as it was before fat bloke (Paul Sawyer?) and his crew left, but better than it has been.

And on the plus side, it's not so much just a LotR catalogue any more!

The only WD issue that was worth my time last year was April. The release of the new BA units catalyzed my interest and seriously motivated me to start collecting again.

My White Dwark 2010 Retrospect = stop waisting my money on a 9$ magazine for 2011 and start putting that money into another facet of the hobby

Element206 wrote:The only WD issue that was worth my time last year was April. The release of the new BA units catalyzed my interest and seriously motivated me to start collecting again.

My White Dwark 2010 Retrospect = stop waisting my money on a 9$ magazine for 2011 and start putting that money into another facet of the hobby

+1 to this post!

It was exactly this issue and those same reasons which got me back into the hobby and the painting guide for NMM on the Sanguinor was very very cool and very very very helpful.

Just on a side note to those of you in the UK who either pick up WD regulally or sporadically, it's £4.50 for one issue or you can subscribe for he first 3 minus for £5! So you get it delivered to your door, a week before it's in the shops and you get 2 issues for 50p! Then after the 3 months you can continue for just £9 every 3 months (1 free issue every quarter) or you cancel it no probs at all.

Or if you're feeling particularly devious, you could cancel it and set up another subscription in your gf's/bf's/wife/husband/mum/dad etc, name and get the free 2 month thing again!

Sorry for the OT sales pitch, just think it's a pretty good offer!

*edited for double post.

Yeah this deal got me to resubscribe.

I almost re-subscribed to WD this year... almost. I might pick up a sub next year but it just seems so hard to justify for the price.

Nice thread though, good to see a summary of what I would have gotten had I bought the mag lol.

We going to get the last few months?

Sorry about the late post, school got in the way.

October: Island of Blood, part two
A Giant Island of blood Battle report, high elves fluff, and a Step-by step of the high elf Prince on foot dominate this issue. It also contains The end results of the Battalion Challenge, an article on Fantasy mounts, and a Word Bearers army workshop.

What they did right: The Prince stage-by-stage was nice, and the small Planetstrike terrain article at the back had a few good ideas.

What they did wrong: This was the 4th month in a row that focused heavily on fantasy. It got a bit boring. Also, the Battle Report was confusing, and difficult to read.

Overall, this issue is second only to January for issues.


November: Dark Eldar at Last!
In addition to all the usual features, we get a rather sparse high elves tactics article, a terrain showcase, and a dark Eldar Painting Guide.

What they did right: the Painting article was stuffed full of useful tips, and the design notes were interesting.

What they did wrong: The battle report was decidedly uneven, and beyond it and the painting article, there was not much in the issue.

Overall, 8th placed.


December: A bit of everything!
This issue showcases some Dark Eldar Fluff, Three Battle Reports, Spearhead Tactica, and a Fantasy Scenario, as well as planty of LotR stuff.

What they did Right: No matter which system you play, there is something for you to look at. And you just cannot say no to three battle reports.

What they did Wrong: It is rather sparse on painting and modelling advice.

Solidly in 4th place!