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This is, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant moves by GW in this new rulebook, from a business standpoint (allies and fortifications being the big ones). I am of course, referring to the mentions of including new fortification rules and unique terrain not in codexes, but in the once hallowed pages of everyone's favorite tree-killer. Now, we all know that White Dwarf has in recent years become a shadow of its former self, but it seems like GW is trying to revitalize it. This also adds increased credence to the rumors that GW may add ally only forces to WD, not to mention any number of other goodies that could start appearing. I never thought WD was worth the cost of admission, but if this speculation is true and GW actually turns the rag around, I may consider a subscription in the near future. Well played, GW... Well played.

They've been doing little things here and there to make the magazine more valuable, such as the flyer rules, Night Spinner for the Eldar, and so on. The painting tutorials are a step up though; while I love the really complex 'Eavy Metal painting tutorials, these simpler ones are much more realistic to me. I'm not going to take 18 steps to paint the skin on my Guardsmen; I'll stick with the four or so that the newer tutorials have! If they keep it up it'll be a worthwhile magazine eventually, but for now it's still not terribly good. Getting better though, definitely.

I wont lie, I like the pretty pictures.

I've been hearing a lot of opinion that it's getting better. Chiefly on the deepstrike radio podcast. But have yet to pick up a copy and see for myself yet. The last WD I bought was in 2005.

Doesn't this mean the rules will be all over the place? And we'd have to pay more to get the complete rulebook? I'd much prefer the price I paid give me a full rulebook.

And I don't know, they should have the ability to see that by making WD essentially a catalogue is bad USP, so I guess, congratulations, they finally learned to make their product worth the price...?

at £4.50 they have to improve it - it was dying a slow death.

Baronyu wrote:Doesn't this mean the rules will be all over the place?

As its been in the past... yes.

I always love the comments that WD used to have rules, short stories, painting tutorials and multiple battle reports, but don't any more.

Clue: All these things were in WD June

Well, the problems with WD will never go away. Namely that they have to pay to produce something which will always be inferior to free alternatives on the internet.

But if they put rules in it, well, that's something I can't get from a website. Well, I could get photographed/scanned copies I suppose, but I wouldn't feel right taking them into a store.

I still buy White Dwarf every month though. I'm just not under any illusions that it should be a collection of useful articles. The only thing they could offer are more designer/developer interviews like Standard Bearer. I like that article, despite what the hate-train on Dakka says.

Shas'o_Longshot wrote:I always love the comments that WD used to have rules, short stories, painting tutorials and multiple battle reports, but don't any more.

Clue: All these things were in WD June

Notice that I was careful not to imply that there hasn't been an upward trend in the last few months (fliers in particular), but that timing is no coincidence: they are trying to increase the quality of the magazine for the new edition. And kudos to them, by the way. Again I am considering a subscription if they get really good.

Shas'o_Longshot wrote:I always love the comments that WD used to have rules, short stories, painting tutorials and multiple battle reports, but don't any more.

Clue: All these things were in WD June

Yes, indeed they were. And here's what will happen:

GW will publish rules for new units in White Dwarf. People will complain that there will be rules scattered throughout multiple publications, and keeping track of everything will be a nightmare.
GW will then publish a compilation of all of the White Dwarf articles, so that all the rules are in one place. People will complain that this is just a blatant cash grab, to get us to pay for the same stuff we already bought White Dwarf for.
GW will then announce that due to negative customer response, they will no longer publish rules in White Dwarf. People will complain that White Dwarf is going downhill, and reminisce about the good old days when White Dwarf included new rules...


Ahh, the circle of life.

WD is a shadow of the magazine that experimented with new games and gave us WHFB and WH40K but saw the decline of Necromunda,Warmaster, BFG, and Space Marine(Epic). The quality of WD as any other publication waxes and wanes. I happen to think it's still a valuable part of the GW experience but I have never subscribed to it so as to be disappointed from month to month. If you buy the WDs that interest you at the FLGS then I find you are rarely disappointed.

insaniak wrote:

Shas'o_Longshot wrote:I always love the comments that WD used to have rules, short stories, painting tutorials and multiple battle reports, but don't any more.

Clue: All these things were in WD June

Yes, indeed they were. And here's what will happen:

GW will publish rules for new units in White Dwarf. People will complain that there will be rules scattered throughout multiple publications, and keeping track of everything will be a nightmare.
GW will then publish a compilation of all of the White Dwarf articles, so that all the rules are in one place. People will complain that this is just a blatant cash grab, to get us to pay for the same stuff we already bought White Dwarf for.
GW will then announce that due to negative customer response, they will no longer publish rules in White Dwarf. People will complain that White Dwarf is going downhill, and reminisce about the good old days when White Dwarf included new rules...


Ahh, the circle of life.

The same for painting and modelling.
Though I do remember one where they suggested movement trays over plastic card, really it's not like they were forcing you.

insaniak wrote:
GW will then publish a compilation of all of the White Dwarf articles. People will complain that this is just a blatant cash grab, to get us to pay for the same stuff we already bought White Dwarf for.
GW will then announce that due to negative customer response, they will no longer publish rules in White Dwarf. People will complain that White Dwarf is going downhill, and reminisce about the good old days when White Dwarf included new rules...

Chapter Approved was one of the best publications GW put out and a natural output of having rules and new armies in WD. It needs to come back.

Wait one second. Many people complain that the BGB at $80+ is expensive and don't want to get it, but some people will pay $10 for a rule on one page or paragraph?

No wonder GW thinks of as idiots. Come on, $10 for a rule or two, or a subription that may or may not have update rules?

Crazy.

I played back during 3rd Edition and recently started playing again. I found my old stack of White Dwarfs back from the late 90's/early 2000's and rereading the old White Dwarfs is much more interesting than reading the new ones. There are many things to improve upon, but my biggest gripe about the current magazine is the battle reports. The detailed analysis of each turn from the old magazines was much better than the current overview of each turn.

Chapter approved, index astartes, heroes and villains of the 41st, worldwide campaigns...anyone who believes the negative attitude toward the current state of white dwarf is OTT needs to go back and look at how good they used to be.

Unwarranted complaints like Insaniak exampled is what has dulled it down. Plus things like featuring scibor's sculpts in the magazine only for him to set up a rival company may have smitten them.

insaniak wrote:GW will then publish a compilation of all of the White Dwarf articles, so that all the rules are in one place. People will complain that this is just a blatant cash grab, to get us to pay for the same stuff we already bought White Dwarf for.

Anybody with a GW account has access to this.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/articleCategory.jsp?communityArticleCatId=800002a&articleCatId=800002a&catId=§ion=whiteDwarf

Not sure whether it contains current articles though.

BlapBlapBlap wrote:Anybody with a GW aocount has access to this.
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/articleCategory.jsp?communityArticleCatId=800002a&articleCatId=800002a&catId=§ion=whiteDwarf
Not sure whether it contains current articles though.

It definitively does not have a lot of the old ones. Trust me, over the years, WD featured a lot more cool stuff for "gaming" than just 14 articles.

AustonT wrote:Chapter Approved was one of the best publications GW put out and a natural output of having rules and new armies in WD. It needs to come back.

+1 to this. Interesting rules to spice up your games, topped by a load of fluff. What's more to want?

I'm not sure how anyone could complain about CA either. Complaints about rules exclusive to WD I can understand (though not agree), but Chapter Approved? If you already have the rules due to WD, just don't buy the CA book - problem solved, money grab averted.
Did people really do this or is this just an assumption in defence of GW having stopped releasing CA? Because I always thought they did so because WD simply didn't contain any useful stuff they could put in a book anymore.

Lynata wrote:

BlapBlapBlap wrote:Anybody with a GW aocount has access to this.
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/articleCategory.jsp?communityArticleCatId=800002a&articleCatId=800002a&catId=§ion=whiteDwarf
Not sure whether it contains current articles though.

It definitively does not have a lot of the old ones. Trust me, over the years, WD featured a lot more cool stuff for "gaming" than just 14 articles.

It might also be worth noting that a lot of the (even recent) painting articles have disappeared from the site since the new paint set.
This includes (old and new) white dwarf painting articles.

What happened to (among others) the awesome Battlewagon paint guide they had online? Gone, apparently never to return...

Jim wrote:I played back during 3rd Edition and recently started playing again. I found my old stack of White Dwarfs back from the late 90's/early 2000's and rereading the old White Dwarfs is much more interesting than reading the new ones. There are many things to improve upon, but my biggest gripe about the current magazine is the battle reports. The detailed analysis of each turn from the old magazines was much better than the current overview of each turn.

I haven't looked at a WD in years, but having just re-entered the hobby I borrowed the newest issue from a friend. It was a fairly enjoyable read, but the second battle report, between Ork and Space Marine forces based on the AOBR models with a few extra reinforcements, was awful. It scanned decently, but there was a complete lack of details. Not even an army list at the beginning. It turns out, when you read the summary, that Orks won a marginal victory thanks to a unit of Kommandos pulling off a Linebreaker. And that was literally the first time those Kommandos were mentioned. Not a word about them anywhere in the battle report itself, just an "oh, Kommandos won" in the post game banter. If I had paid for it, I'd have felt gypped.

Getting a little better, but still far from worth it.