White Dwarf--worth the money?

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**njpc**

I cancelled my subscription to white dwarf. For the cost, I just do not think its worth it. I've been in the hobby for a while, a couple years ago they hard real articles. Articles about tactics, formations, army building, and good sold paint articles. These articles are now few and far between.

If you like the way white dwarf is currently laid out, go for it, order it. But think what you want out of it. Their painting articles are pretty nice when depending who writes them. But to often the magazine just seems like a advertizement. I subscribed to Tales of Battle which is a indi version of white dwarf. Its more along what I wanted, but there are less publications in a year.

In the age of the internet, white dwarf has evolved, I think people miss that. GW online has a lot of material on it that used to go into white dwarf: how to assemble models, painting guides, highlights of army tactics and example builds.

Should you order white dwarf? I'd think of the following:
what do I want out of it and do I have the spare cash. From there i'd buy 2-3 issues from a stores, see if you like dropping the money for them. If its turns out to be a your going to goto the store anyway and buy it, then might as well because at least you get a free figure.

**Howard A Treesong**

White Dwarf should have been more like Black Gobbo was. They produced that for free strangely enough. It was full of studio painting/conversion competitions, scenery articles, rules and scenarios, and as it often featured staff armies it tended to have a unique personal touch to most articles so rather than seeing the same old 'eavy metal models made straight from the box being featured for everything you saw different models on a regular basis.

So rather than stick that between the covers of White Dwarf and charge money for it they axed it and left WD as an advertising booklet.

**Erasoketa**

Howard A Treesong wrote:White Dwarf should have been more like Black Gobbo was. They produced that for free strangely enough. It was full of studio painting/conversion competitions, scenery articles, rules and scenarios, and as it often featured staff armies it tended to have a unique personal touch to most articles so rather than seeing the same old 'eavy metal models made straight from the box being featured for everything you saw different models on a regular basis.

Sadly the main difference between that days and today, is that we have no longer the bits service. It was gold for us, the customers, and allowed us -and them- to mix everything.

**wana10**

The clue to me that white dwarf is no longer worth a monthly subsciption was the cancellation of warhammer chronicles and chapter approved. Back when the magazine cost half of what it does now there were enough cool new rules and scenarios to publish a decent size book every year...now not so much.

**Flashman**

Not as great as it once was, but in better shape than it has been. Painting and modelling articles are usually pretty good, but focusing heavily on the month's big release is getting a little tired.

**Jazz is for Losers**

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.

Hmm, BPI said the same thing about cut-outs in this thread. You might be on to something there. Regarding paints that you own - they actually write the guids like that now? As opposed to painting something nice and then trying to explain it in terms of GW product? (ie when they used some nice colour from some other manufacturer and then wrote it in the guide as "GW Medium Green" when it clearly was nothing of the sort). Regarding "How to paint GW minis" book mentioned in your other post, you might like the older Mike McVey one. Possibly a little out-dated but certainly superior.

Maybe the theory of new editor = improvmed mag might have some merit. Contributors to the link I posted seemed to lean towards the opinion that the mag might have bottomed out and the long climb towards being buyable is in progress.

**Karon**

Why would anyone pay to read advertisements for a company charging 400% more than what it costs to make their figures?

White Dwarf is now basically "See these figures? They cool. You should buy them because we like monehs. Your monehs.....hehehehehe"

**Trench-Raider**

Sorry. WD has not been worth a damn since the mid to late '90s. So no.

TR

**FITZZ**

Trench-Raider wrote:Sorry. WD has not been worth a damn since the mid to late '90s. So no.

TR

QFT, WD hasn't been worth a gak since the Fat Bloke,Andy Chambers days.

**Bartali**

I think the subscription is just there for people who don't know any better.

White Dwarf is geared towards different people buying it once a year to tie in with new releases

Buy Blood Angels issue -> Buy codex -> Buy models

**Ouze**

Just a quick point. A lot of people, myself included, mentioned how full of ads the magazine was. I'm not opposed to ads, per se, but when the magazine is like what, 9 bucks an issue? I feel I've already subsidized it.

Anyway, when I posted that, it was two days before my third issue of FineScale Modeler arrived. Someone on these fora mentioned that there was a great article on Digital Camouflage, so I subscribed (in time to get that very issue, might I add).

In my experience, FSM is proportionally worse then WD. At least 50% of the magazine is ads, and the magazine itself is very, very thin. In this third issue, I had to flip between the cover through 6 pages of ads to my first piece of actual content.

Secondly, the actual articles are not very detailed. The digital camouflage one, where the talk about the techniques? Not so much. He mentions he spent 40 hours masking the model, and that's the extent of his discussion. He talks about some other aspects of it, but the headline from the cover literally was not present. It was akin to writing an article about how to sculpt your own Michelangelo, and the only instruction is "you need marble".

Sorry to threadjack, but I'd subscribe to WD before FSM - I've already got buyer's remorse within 90 days :/

**Tek**

I chuck mine away at the end of each month, unless something really good is in it. I keep saying I won't buy it any more, as it's no good really. I'd buy it regularly if it came with a free mini (like the good old days).

My last issue will be Spearhead I think.