WHITE DWARF · OCTOBER 2004
Bugman’s Lament opens with a beer-cart ambush, Lustrian treasure inspires a branching campaign, and Space Marine designers reveal their new models. Harad’s history supplies Middle-earth scenarios and assassin rules.
COVER TO COVER
In printed page order
Paul Sawyer looks back at early Citadel catalogues and the Regiments of Renown that once shaped his collecting plans. The return of Mengil’s Manflayers connects those memories to the current release schedule. Staff members bring in old favourites, and Sawyer recalls his own first purchases and painting efforts. Revisiting these roots becomes a pleasure in its own right, alongside enthusiasm for new miniatures.
Ogre Kingdoms concept art and the Battle for Macragge starter set lead this month’s previews. Specialist-game support, Forge World Sentinel weapons and Black Library’s Games Day plans broaden the news. A school championship in Nottingham offers a glimpse of organised Middle-earth play, while The Old West outlines posse campaigns and planned expansions. Staff project reports range from Bugman’s terrain to Eldar repainting and large Chaos battles.
Nick Kyme introduces a four-part campaign about the destruction of Bugman’s brewery. Rather than changing established history, the linked battles explore whether timely warnings and successful defences could have averted the disaster. Bugman’s family history, trade routes and brewing community explain why the settlement matters to the Dwarfs. Git Guzzler’s growing Goblin alliance turns the valuable beer shipments into the first targets of a larger plan.
Grotsnag’s Wolf Riders surround three beer carts travelling through a mountain valley. Bazrak’s escort must keep the wagons moving while an independent Ranger relief force attempts to arrive in time. Skirmish combat, drunken guards and special rout conditions make this an uneven running fight rather than a conventional battle. Escaping with at least two carts wins the scenario, and surviving cargo and Ranger support can strengthen the Dwarfs in the campaign finale.
The Dwarf Brewmaster leads the convoy with a rune-engraved axe and a supply of fortifying brew. Drinking can temporarily strengthen him, but risks exhausting the cask before the battle is over. Nick Kyme builds the character from an old Flame Cannon crewman, adding weapons and a substantial barrel. The conversion reinforces Bazrak’s trade and provides a distinctive leader for the escort.
The self-proclaimed mountain bandit rides an unusually large wolf named Snarler. Grotsnag can provoke nearby Dwarfs into an unwanted charge, drawing them away from the convoy or a useful firing position. His equipment combines established Goblin magic items with a personal profile. Guy Haley’s accompanying conversion uses a classic wolf, a plastic Goblin head and sculpted details to make the raider look sufficiently imposing.
Beer carts use a simplified chariot framework suited to moving precious cargo rather than charging an enemy. The wagon, mules and crew function as one model, with a handgunner able to fire around it. Bazrak can ride aboard, but the civilian vehicle gives him no additional armour protection. The entry makes the convoy a tangible part of the skirmish and supplies the profiles needed to play the ambush.
Mountain Rangers combine scouting and skirmishing with short-range firepower. Their blunderbusses unleash an unpredictable barrage and require reloading, while the mountain horn can panic nearby cavalry. The unit is restricted to the campaign’s stated appearances rather than presented as an unrestricted army-book addition. Nick Kyme also explains the handgun and blunderbuss conversions, using earthy browns to give the models a shared mountain identity.
Chris Bone combines an old Empire War Wagon body, Steam Tank wheels and the mule team from Bronzino’s Galloper Guns. Balsa wood, spare siege components and a Dwarf driver turn the assembly into a heavy civilian dray. Separate painting keeps the barrels and crew accessible before final construction. A straightforward brown drybrush sequence ties the wood and scenic base together.
Paul Rudge builds a modular four-foot battlefield for the ambush from four polystyrene tiles. Rounded rises and overhanging rocky formations make a valley that still fits together in different arrangements. Sand and a sealing layer prepare the surfaces for brown ground, grey rocks and several types of flock. A Forge World road and a removable spiked barricade complete the route, while coloured glue makes unfinished areas easier to spot.
Nick Kyme’s Dwarfs attempt to push the beer convoy through Guy Haley’s ambush. Early shooting achieves little for the Goblins, and the arriving Rangers help reduce their numbers. Bazrak kills Grotsnag before a Troll brings him down. His sacrifice buys enough time for two carts to escape, giving the Dwarfs the opening victory and its later campaign benefits.
This overview presents the Compendium as a collection of ways to expand familiar Warhammer games. Linked and map campaigns sit alongside unusual environments, large multiplayer battles, naval fighting and sieges. Terrain projects and example settings connect the rules to practical modelling. White Dwarf announces plans to build on those ideas with its own campaigns and hobby features, including a Bretonnian project and games at sea.
Anthony Reynolds clarifies the supplement’s variant lists and confirms their continuing official status after the campaign. General answers separate unit-selection restrictions from inherited army-book rules. Faction sections address Hellcannons, Daemonic cavalry, Slayers, Middenland, Sylvania and other unusual interactions. High Elf Sea Patrol errata restore missing choices and regulate its preliminary shooting; these answers explicitly supersede earlier versions, some of which had differed online.
Julian Bayliss explains a collection driven by imagery, conversion work and Golden Demon ambitions. Two Forge World War Mammoths anchor the army, with repositioned anatomy and elaborate passengers giving each a different story. A many-part Engra Deathsword and small Beastman scenes show the same care at a smaller scale. The interview also covers his return to collecting, competition experiences and a simple clear-glue technique for drooling Chaos Hounds.
Evan Lougheed proposes a small branching campaign that avoids extensive bookkeeping. Invaders first try to steal a relic from a Lustrian temple; victory leads to an escape with the prize, while defeat turns the second game into a desperate withdrawal. Several established enemies can take the raiders’ role, and the concept can be adapted beyond Lizardmen. The accompanying terrain projects provide enough themed scenery to make the short campaign feel distinct.
An invading army attempts to reach a temple and spend an uninterrupted turn stealing its relic. At least half the defending Lizardmen arrive later, with aquatic troops able to emerge from spawning pools. The artifact can remain with its original unit or be carried separately, making its recovery a continuing contest after the raid. Possession grants a victory-point bonus, and the result selects the campaign’s second scenario.
The failed raiders are pursued by a Lizardmen army with a points advantage. An unusual deployment leaves the invaders struggling to cross into the enemy half of the battlefield. Surviving units of sufficient strength earn additional victory points if they reach that area. The result is a withdrawal under pressure, suitable as the second battle after the temple’s defenders retain their relic.
Successful raiders carry the Cupped Hands of the Old Ones towards a narrow escape route. The relic strengthens its bearer’s unit through stubbornness, but falls to the ground if the carrier dies or flees. Lizardmen deploy on both sides of the retreating force and try to prevent the prize leaving their territory. Escaping with the plaque adds a substantial bonus to the ordinary victory-point result.
Rob Hawkins, Steve Stiefel and Chris Walton replace standard battlefield features with inexpensive Lustrian scenery. Carved insulation foam creates a sacrificial pit, stepped ziggurats and weathered idols, while plastic eggs and plants supply a hatchery and jungle. Unglued temple layers allow several hill heights from the same pieces. The construction retains ordinary terrain functions, so the new visual identity requires little additional rules work.
Anthony Reynolds traces Mengil’s rise from the brutal household of a Dark Elf noble to a feared mercenary captain. Personal cruelty repeatedly undermines his naval career, eventually leaving his followers stranded in Tilea. There they turn ambush and assassination into a trade, accepting employment without becoming trustworthy allies. A short battlefield vignette demonstrates how readily Mengil’s enjoyment of killing overrides payment or obligation.
Neil Green’s palette contrasts restrained black armour and purple cloth with several kinds of flesh. Grey highlights define the armour, while warm flesh tones distinguish the living Dark Elves. Their grisly cloaks instead begin with a muddy green-brown mixture, lightened with bone and finally washed green. The short guide gives a coherent way to reproduce the studio regiment’s unsettling appearance.
The regiment offers poisoned ranged attacks and great weapons in a scouting, skirmishing formation. Mengil’s crossbow-pistol supports his followers at close range, while their enchanted banner makes distant shooting against them harder. They gain extra victory points from enemies broken or destroyed in melee, but stop to flay victims instead of pursuing. Hiring restrictions distinguish the armies that may take them as a Special choice, a Rare choice or not at all.
North American Games Days from 2003 supply this selection of Golden Demon winners. Tim Lison’s Skarsnik and Jennifer Haley’s Angels Renascent champion represent the two Slayer Sword entries. Other pieces range from a Nurgle warband and Slaanesh scene to High Elf Sword Masters and individual Imperial heroes. Captions identify artists, events and awards, presenting contrasting competition work without supplying paint recipes.
Guy Haley asks Jes Goodwin how the forthcoming range develops the Space Marines’ warrior-monk character. Successful basic plastics remain, with revised frames adding equipment and gothic detail rather than requiring an entirely new army. Classical influences give the Ultramarines more identity, while characterful metal releases extend their history and specialist roles. Goodwin stresses that collectors can still choose a cleaner visual style instead of using every ornate accessory.
Mark Gibbons describes how familiar Space Marine imagery can be refined without losing its history. Concept sketches help define veterans’ roles, chapter symbolism and relationships with the wider Imperium. Chaplain Cassius provides a detailed example: bionics, Tyrannic-war references and crafted icons gradually replace more feral-looking trophies. The discussion shows how rejected ideas contribute to a final character whose story can be read from his equipment.
Dave Thomas and Mark Harrison discuss revisiting characters they admired as younger collectors. Pose and silhouette guide their versions of Tigurius, Cassius, Shrike and Lysander, with each armour type demanding a different sense of movement. Plastic command components introduce the distinct problem of designing useful individual parts. The sculptors explain both their attachment to earlier models and the practical constraints that shape replacements.
Northern Europe’s custom-chapter competition invites entrants to create a small set of loyal Space Marines with their own colours and insignia. Staff and Outrider examples demonstrate possible approaches while remaining outside the contest themselves. Separate recognition is offered for painting and conversions, alongside the overall chapter award. The feature records the participating countries, model requirements and contemporary entry arrangements.
George Dellapina’s Speed Freeks ambush a wounded Imperial officer while Owen Rees brings in the Tahnelian Drop Troops. Reserves, flank attacks and aircraft repeatedly overturn the apparent advantage. The officer is captured and recovered, and Warboss Tank dies, but the Guard’s escape vehicles and escorts are steadily destroyed. The players stop in turn five with a Speed Freek victory after the extraction becomes impossible; their debrief emphasises the excitement created by an asymmetric mission.
A wounded leader and a small bodyguard wait in a ruined convoy while most of both armies approach from reserve. The attacker must overpower and capture the target, then carry him off its own table edge. The defender instead tries to evacuate him, and the character can change hands again when his captors are defeated. Infiltrators, early fast units and the valley layout create a rescue mission whose objectives matter more than ordinary casualties.
These additional aircraft rules allow a flyer to attack an opposing aircraft instead of strafing the ground. The defender can return fire simultaneously, giving up its next attack run, while a spare friendly aircraft may try to intercept. Hits are restricted to glancing damage to represent the passing engagement. The system extends the Imperial Armour flyer framework without turning the tabletop battle into a separate aerial game.
Warwick Kinrade answers aircraft questions raised before the battle. Passengers in a destroyed airborne Valkyrie are treated differently from those aboard a vehicle in VTOL mode. Further answers cover removing wrecks, disembarking despite disrupted shooting and identifying the next firing opportunity lost to damage. The short FAQ clarifies how the Imperial Armour transport and aircraft systems interact during play.
The preview explains Relic’s adaptation of 40K into real-time strategy. Capturing strategic locations supplies requisition, pushing armies into the fight rather than relying on a conventional resource-gathering economy. Morale, cover, familiar units and elaborate combat animations translate the tabletop setting into a different rules system. The Blood Ravens campaign introduces Gabriel Angelos and the struggle for Tartarus, with Orks, Alpha Legion and Biel-Tan completing the principal playable factions.
George Dellapina begins an entirely converted Feral Ork army around a planned 1,500-point tournament force. Madboyz and Squiggoths create conspicuous threats, leaving Boarboyz and Junkaboyz opportunities to strike. Better shooting from hunters and an abundance of animals differentiate the project from his existing Speed Freeks. The army list and discussion connect his chosen battlefield roles to the modelling possibilities of an unsupported miniature range.
Dellapina gives his Boarboyz an appropriately crude mechanical identity. Plasticard, rod and old Cyboar parts build armoured heads, while bike wheels replace rear legs and exhausts complete the effect. Sculpted fur ties the alterations back into the animals. Advice on scoring plasticard, applying tiny rivets and allowing putty to firm makes the individual conversions easier to repeat across a unit.
Mat Ward follows Harad’s relationship with Númenor, Gondor and Sauron across successive ages. Tribute, occupation, rebellion and the Kinstrife establish Umbar as a continuing rival of the northern kingdom. The narrative also gives the Hâsharii an increasing role in enforcing the southern rulers’ authority. An extended timeline combines established events with the magazine’s expanded setting and provides hooks for raids, civil wars and campaigns.
Three Hâsharii enter a Haradrim town to assassinate rebellious rulers. Gondorian guards and the threatened chieftains begin scattered through the streets, making protection a difficult immediate task. The assassins win by killing their targets, while the defenders must eliminate them first. Suggested extensions add arriving guards or vary the chieftains’ resilience to change the pace and difficulty.
Eldacar’s loyalists and Castamir’s insurgents fight among the buildings of Osgiliath. Each side must kill the opposing leader and reduce the enemy force to half strength, with lesser outcomes producing a draw. The mixed rebel army includes Haradrim allies alongside Gondorian warriors. Larger forces, siege engines or a burning bridge offer ways to turn the compact scenario into a more dramatic civil-war battle.
Aragorn, fighting as Thorongil, holds the quayside while Umbar’s ships burn. Haradrim defenders must get enough warriors past his force to reach and save the fleet. The narrow battlefield concentrates the struggle into a blocking action with a clear escape objective. An expanded version can replace the abstract fleet with modelled ships and explicit fire-setting rules.
Mat Ward writes through a Haradrim observer investigating the feared assassins and their silent tower. The narrator questions simple explanations of the order’s origin while describing how its surveillance and executions maintain political obedience. Its growing influence makes the identity of Harad’s true rulers increasingly uncertain. The account connects Sauron’s preference for coercion to the methods of those who claim to serve him.
The Hâsharin profile represents a skilled infiltrator armed with poisoned blades and short-ranged missiles. Failed wound rolls must be rerolled, allowing relatively few attacks to remain dangerous. Stealth provides the effect of an Elven cloak, while agility prevents the standing assassin from being trapped. The entry supplies a compact but capable character for the Harad scenarios printed in the issue.
Paul Rudge assembles and converts a Mûmak with reference to its appearance in The Return of the King. Separate howdah sections preserve painting access, and filled seams are retextured to match the creature’s folds. Scarred tusks, improvised spikes, embedded arrows and extra hides give the model a battle-worn identity. Repositioning the head and constructing a new base complete the work, with painting explicitly deferred to the following issue.
Corsairs raid a coastal village while its small garrison waits for Dol Amroth’s relief force. Five loot markers concentrate the fighting around the village hall, and the attackers must escape with three or destroy the defenders. Reinforcements begin testing to arrive later in the game, turning the raid into a race against mounted help. An alternative points-match arrangement allows the same rescue structure to be played with other armies.
Boromir leads mounted warriors into the assembling Haradrim army’s camp. His force must kill or scatter the loose horses, then escape north with enough survivors, including Boromir himself. The alarm brings more defenders into play, and fallen Evil warriors can return repeatedly as the wider army responds. Harad also needs Drôzhna to survive, making the assassin’s fate important even when the raiders fail their main task.
Nick Davis reproduces the ranks of the Last Alliance with gold armour, pale cloaks and deep blue robes. Ink washes shade the metal and cloth while successive highlights retain a bright, formal appearance. Converted leaders use familiar Elven bodies with replacement heads and sculpted hair. The accompanying banner gives the small points-match army a strong warm accent against its cool clothing.
Jason Buyaki develops a quick scheme for a lunchtime-league Goblin horde. Grey mixed into green creates muted skin, dark metallic drybrushing defines armour, and red clothing supplies a repeated accent. A Cave Troll uses the same limited approach at a larger scale, with green scales and pale flesh. Metal captains, the Goblin Drum and Durbûrz provide focal points without slowing down the rank-and-file process.
All substantive editorial features, scenarios, rules, interviews, showcases and hobby guides in the supplied October 2004 magazine are indexed. Advertisements, release-price catalogues, event listings, component order pages and stockist directories are excluded. Physical supplements are not assumed to be present.