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I subscribed to the GW White Dwarf magazine as of recently, and although it is my weekly picker-upper, there are some
beefs I have with it. I play 40k primarily, so when an issue is 70-80% AoS I get slightly dismayed. Now that is
just my finickiness, but what if WD seperated into different magazines by games? I also know they have a primarily
art and painting centered issue, but I do not have much knowledge of it. Other than that, what do y'all think of the magazine
as a whole? What do you think they should change or keep the same? Looking for opinions on the magazine, not on others' opinions.

I don't buy WD but:

1. If they started doing a variety of 40k battle reports (small or big doesn't matter) every issue where they explained how the different rules applied and worked in practice according to RAW.

2. FAQ's in every issue, answering the latest issues and conundrums, that was then compiled over time to both printed FAQ's and updates for the digital formats.

Those two things would get me onboard as a subscriber.

I buy old white dwarfs that I like ( as in around the year ~2000 ). 40k youtube channels are just better then the modern wd

WD is only useful to me if it contains rules for models I want to use/try. I primarily like to have a print out for anything I play with so if I want to try out day the new Wulfen to see if I want the new book then I'll buy a WD. 95% of the magazine is generally just rules/advertising for the new release so I'll give and or take that. The batreps basically have no rules so they're not useful to me at all (they script all of it anyway, I'm unconvinced anyone is actually rolling dice, or else they might say something like "Cor strewth old chap! I dare say you've forged your narrative a little strong right there, it seems your wraithknight has killed my entire chaos marine army single-handedly!")

White Dwarf is a way for GW to charge their customers for advertising rather than paying for it. I haven't seen anything I would call useful in a WD in a looooong time.

^Some things are still useful.

such as the Looted wagon and the cult of mars discount package. But most are not worth it.

WD was actually getting decent for a while before it got split off into WD Weekly and Visions. WD is okay to read now but it's thin on content, especially for the price. If a subscription was half the cost I'd consider it just to have some idea what the hell everything coming out is.

WD has some good and interesting stuff in it, but its too expensive and too frequent.

I wouldn't ever subscribe to it, but when I see one that has rules I'm interested in, I buy it.

WD sadly is largely garbage, an ad you pay for for whatever is coming out the next week.

It used to be a neat gaming supplement with faction rules and background and new missions and detailed conversion walkthroughs and terrain building and the like, but not in over a decade at this point.

-

I used to love getting white dwarf magazines back when each issue had a batrep and they filled it with hobby related stuff.

The newer versions are just disappointing and I find them lacking in content. I've bought a few of them when they featured armies that I play but was very let down.

I feel that if they started putting in more content such as batreps to demonstrate new rules like X078 mentioned above or put more how to hobby stuff that they would definitely be worth subscribing to again.

I do like that they are publishing rules for new models. It's lets your test things out while you wait for a combined book.

It either needs more content (oh, for turn by turn battle reports again!), or it needs to be cheaper. The content isn't bad, really, but it's not much for the price. If it was about $2 an issue, rather than $4, it wouldn't seem so insubstantial.

I love having the new rules inside. They also had some with Maelstrom cards, and others with Ultramarine/Word Bearers pins. If they can't figure out a way to sell it for less, putting a little freebie (even if it's just a pullout game) in each one would also be cool.

I was super annoyed with a recent one that featured more pics of some guy's army which was featured in Visions. His army is cool, and he deserves props for it, but if they are going to sell a magazine that focuses on pics of models and armies, then put that stuff in there!

I just really, really miss old WDs with detailed battle reports, especially with commentary from each player. Sigh.

I have to say that as an old time WD devotee (87 to about 230) it used to be a 'must' buy. In the last years of monthly WD it was a dirge and rightly scorned.

WD weekly on the other hand has shown what a good idea it was to re-invent it. Of course it's promotional material for GW product but that partly the point if you want to keep up with the latest GW product.

I like that it accompanies the current release that week, often expanding upon what's included in the product.

The inclusion of rules is a major improvement on the old WD.

The paint splatter articles are good if you want to copy the current GW paint schemes. The 4 page paint range poster from last year was a great extra. Its things like this that I occasionally buy it for.

Weekly for a few quid makes it something I can take or leave. I've not bought one for months but picked up this weeks on account of the Deathwatch game rules and am happy with it. I'll probably get next weeks then not bother with it until something jumps out at me.

I did look at a subscription but noted that it costs more per issue to get so feck that. I'll stick to getting the odd copy.

I'm also going to bring up Visions. I couldn't see the point in this when they started it. I finally had a proper look at it last November when they stopped putting it in cellophane. Feth me there are some pretty models in it! All the bespoke and Golden Demon stuff and that you used to get in 'Eavy Metal years ago is there and then some. That issue had an Oldhammer O&G army in it and a Converted Inquisitors warband (very much in the John Blanche style). I swallowed my pride and forked out £7.50 on that. No regrets, beautiful stuff. No bought another one though.

Imagine if it became a real, content-heavy monthly magazine, with an editor on a par with Paul Sawyer.

Yeap... just imagine...

It's a problem of GW being basically a two product company. If you like both their games, it's fine, but if you have set your face against one of them, inevitably 25% or more of every issue is stuff you actively want to avoid.

In contrast, a general wargame manazine will always have some articles for games and periods you don't play, but they often make for an interesting read anyway.

If it didn't repeat rules that will be out next week in the latest codex, but instead had variant or supplemental rules you couldn't get elsewhere, I'd consider it. For example, if it was a "living" update to existing codexes.

It's done a few minigames and I'd like to see more of that, perhaps a bit more expanded.

A seasonal campaign (DETAILED battle reports, orders of battle - rosters or subrosters for scenarios, special scenarios - the "Battle at the Farm" , custom units/rules) would be a lovely way to sell the magazine. Sort of like TSR's/WotC's Adventure path, but for 40K and/or AoS, with each campaign lasting about 6-12 months. (Then they could sell it as a bundled book with errata and updates a couple of months after the last scenario is published).

If their going to make it an advert, might as well make it something that not only shows off what's coming next but also give you stuff to do with them!

I agree. I have no overt interest in allot of historical games but happily read about them in WI or WSS. Similarly I would read about Fantasy if 40K would my focus.

I think this is where WDW is attractive as well but attacks it from the other side; its very cheap and small enough that it only covers one area at a time. If this weeks not your bag, then you can leave it alone quite happily until one that floats you boat comes along.

The rub being other Wargames mags carrying little or no GW stuff so where are you going to go (in print).

Is WD available in newsagents again? I remember they withdrew it to WG shops and subscription only.

Not that I am aware of.

Man if I could buy a GW branded No Quarter magazine packed full of fluff, battle reports, painting guides, conversion guides (including greenstuffing and scratchbuilding, not kitbashing), scratchbuilding terrain guides, rules (at least they are doing this these days), more fluff, RPG content (FFG still makes those even if they haven't done anything with them recently), extra content for other games (like that HH one I am sure everyone bought for the board game ), and painting contests....

I'd be SO happy with that.

But as it is WD is as good as dead... I bought one recently to get the free ultramarine pin. I glanced at the magazine, which was apparently enough to see all of the contents, and I couldn't see anything worth the drive to pick it up, let alone the actual price tag.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Is WD available in newsagents again? I remember they withdrew it to WG shops and subscription only.

I think I've seen it at WH Smiths.

You can certainly get the Visions mag there.

Advert magazine you have to pay for? No, thanks.

My FLGS still carries it, although in an increasingly reduced number because nobody buys it. Once in a while I may notice something shiny in the front page, pick it up, give it a very quick read through some pages... and then put it back where it was. It would hardly be worth a single euro.

In a similar vein, Visions features craploads of pictures of pretty miniatures, in an age when Internet is swarming with high-res pics of pretty miniatures. Talk about missing the mark. Although well, the Internet is probably a passing fad, like Pokemon, so...

 notprop wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Is WD available in newsagents again? I remember they withdrew it to WG shops and subscription only.

I think I've seen it at WH Smiths.

You can certainly get the Visions mag there.

Visions can be stocked my most magazine places, but WD:Weekly seems to just be in games stores. Neither seem to sell that well so they've usually got a back catalog.

Personally, I haven't enjoyed WD in a while now. The way they've handled battle reports since 6th ed came out and the constant "advertisements disguised as articles" doesn't make me want to buy it. Also, I know I'm probably alone in this, but I don't even care to buy the ones that have rules for new models in them. As a veteran of second edition, the idea of being that guy that brings three codexes, two supplements and four magazines to a game just so he can play ONE army doesn't appeal to me.

Also, I miss Fat Bloke ...

I used to subscribe to WD, but left after a bit. I find it's okay for things like finding upcoming news and getting hyped up for it, but the battle reports (which were my favorite part) were kind of simplified compared to the older ones. They also removed a few articles that gave it that, "hobby," feel.

I don't know whether or not they still do this or not, but I also found when they posted additional rules (ex. Death Worlds, WD Sob codex, WHFB Civil War Rules) it was kind of cool.

 Vaktathi wrote:
WD sadly is largely garbage, an ad you pay for for whatever is coming out the next week.

It used to be a neat gaming supplement with faction rules and background and new missions and detailed conversion walkthroughs and terrain building and the like, but not in over a decade at this point.

This.

It's like a ghoul wearing the skin of the old mag, it might look the same from the cover but when you get close you find it's all emaciated, missing body parts and stinks a bit.

But, to be fair the guys in the 'golden age' had a lot more to work with in terms of the games GW sold, and also I think had a hell of a lot more freedom in terms of articles. Not everything had to be related to selling something new, so you got a lot more articles on cool campaign ideas, conversions and the like.

That's my major issue (no pun intended) with the current incarnation (no pun intended) of White Dwarf - every word feel like it's written to sell something new.

I miss the passion for the hobby that shone through every page back in the golden days. I'm sure that the people behind it these days are great and passionate hobbyists, but for some reason the magazine more often than not reads like a product catalogue for office supplies. I suppose they are working on a mandate from above; Sell this stuff in this issue!

Back in the day they didn't even release as much in a month as they do each week nowadays, so I guess they had more room to play with other things...

I like the current WD. I don't buy it regularly, but I certainly buy it more often than I did the previous bloated-but-still-strangely-content-light $12 version. I can justify 400 pennies to read about and see pretty pictures of new merchandise. Plus they're actually putting rules in the magazine now, after having avoided that for years.

The problem with the whole "WD used to be great" thing is that WD had a number of evolutions during its history, and everyone's favorite era isn't the same era. In some cases folks are "remembering" the best of a few eras, all mashed together. And honestly, people have complained about it being nothing but a catalog since around WD100 or so, when the changeover happened. It's a 25-year old complaint.

If I want battle reports, I can find a huge variety online, in text or video form. Tactics and detailed hobby articles I can find on a host of forums too. It doesn't make a lot of sense for their editorial team to spend time on those. And really, I know WD isn't aimed at longbeards like me anyway.

Still, at $4 as an occasional buy? Sure, why not.

Funny enough, older issues that some people often uphold as the golden classics clearly state on the cover "Monthly hobby supplement and miniatures catalogue"

While I miss the older format and certainly some of the cheekier writers and their styles of doing articles, the newer ones I buy every now and again for previews of armies or kits of interest. While I'm not a fan of the weekly format, it beats having to slog through a monthly issue of just Age of Sigmar or Lord of the Things when it's not your cuppa.

What I miss the most is the step by step 'Eavy Metal stuff, not this three or four step splatter thing they do now. While it works, I do miss the more complex or involved painting tutorials.