EditorialWD 343 · p. 1
Mark Latham takes over while Grombrindal is away and welcomes the new Warhammer 40,000 edition as a reason to revive his neglected Space Marines. Although Fantasy armies have occupied his gaming time, painting, reading and collecting have kept him connected to the far future. He sees the release as a catalyst both for returning veterans and newcomers, illustrating how different parts of the hobby can sustain enthusiasm even when regular games pause.
Warhammer 40,000Space Marines
CommunityWD 343 · p. 14
The Hobby Bar promotes a week of supervised collecting, assembly, painting and gaming built around a chosen battalion or battleforce. Participants receive the models, materials and tools they need, followed by a case for transporting the finished force. The notice gives dates for separate Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 weeks and describes the programme’s small tuition groups. It connects the new edition’s store introductions with a more sustained summer army project.
Warhammer 40,000Warhammer Fantasy Battles
CommunityWD 343 · pp. 18–21
Andy Hall introduces the far future’s hostile setting and the collecting, painting and social gaming that make up its hobby. He recommends learning with another player or club, then choosing a force through its background and codex rather than rushing into a large collection. Manageable additions, basic tools and an adaptable first battlefield keep the process approachable. The article treats painted models and a growing circle of opponents as equally important foundations.
Warhammer 40,000
InterviewWD 343 · pp. 22–31
Andy Hall asks Mat Ward and Alessio Cavatore how the new book changes both the setting’s presentation and its tabletop battles. Recent galactic events and linked timelines enrich the background, while true line of sight, running, revised assaults and tougher vehicles reshape play. New mission and deployment combinations make objective-holding Troops important without eliminating specialists. Andy Hoare adds the hobby section’s practical examples, and the feature explains how existing codexes and expansions remain usable.
Warhammer 40,000
TacticsWD 343 · pp. 30–31
The new edition’s combat and vehicle changes carry into Apocalypse, while revised scoring units can alter the balance between ordinary troops and spectacular formations. Cities of Death benefits from using the real windows, doorways and gaps of its dense scenery rather than treating buildings as abstract blocks. The article stresses cooperative play in large games and confirms that existing codexes remain compatible. The expansions offer different settings for the same renewed core game.
Warhammer 40,000
LoreWD 343 · pp. 32–37
A galactic map places familiar Imperial worlds, major regions and alien threats within the wider war-torn setting. Insets contrast Terra’s vast sacred architecture with an Eldar craftworld and unusual stellar phenomena. A timeline running beneath the following design interview traces invasions, secessions and disasters from the first Tyrannic War towards the fading Astronomican. Together these elements present a current era of mounting pressure rather than only the distant origins of the Imperium.
Warhammer 40,000Imperium
InterviewWD 343 · pp. 34–37
Rick Priestley, Jervis Johnson, Gav Thorpe and Alessio Cavatore trace the game from an abandoned spaceship project through Rogue Trader and its later boxed editions. They distinguish its actual ancestry from myths about Laserburn, recall the scattered early supplements and explain why larger battles demanded different rules. Plastic kits, army-selection categories and dual-format rulebooks change accessibility as much as mechanics. The discussion ends with the fifth edition and future expansions as new opportunities for existing collections.
Warhammer 40,000
CommunityWD 343 · pp. 38–39
The Studio preview looks beyond the new rulebook to codexes, artwork and miniatures already in development. Robin Cruddace teases a tank-rich Imperial Guard update, while artists work on Space Marines. Sculpting images show Sternguard, Zagstruk and new Orks, alongside the coming Black Reach figures. A notice promises sample Nob and Terminator miniatures with a later White Dwarf issue, turning the release preview into an invitation to try the new models.
Warhammer 40,000Imperial Guard
InterviewWD 343 · pp. 42–45
John Blanche explains how carefully paced art, graphics and text maintain the dark identity of the setting while presenting it afresh. The gallery connects his Emperor’s Gate drawing with newer box art, alien landscapes and battlefield scenes. Alex Boyd discusses equal opposing armies and green illumination at Damnos, while Paul Dainton gives craftworlds scale and places an assault within a much larger battle. The feature shows art carrying background through composition and detail.
Warhammer 40,000Imperium
Battle reportWD 343 · pp. 46–65
Alessio’s Ultramarines face Gav’s Black Legion in a Dawn of War battle for two objectives. Early coordinated reserves let the loyalists overwhelm separate Chaos threats, though Abaddon later clears the turbine and forces a response. On the landing pad, surviving Tactical Marines hold firm as Terminators destroy the final attackers. The game ends after five turns with a 1–0 Ultramarines victory, demonstrating why battlefield damage and possession of scoring troops are different measures of success.
Warhammer 40,000Ultramarines
RulesWD 343 · p. 47
Each army nominates a home objective and must protect it while taking the opponent’s. Dawn of War starts with limited Troops and headquarters choices, forces the opposing deployment to keep its distance and brings undeployed non-reserve units on in the first turn. Initial darkness restricts shooting. The paired explanations show how separately selected mission and deployment rules can change the same armies’ approach before a shot is fired.
Warhammer 40,000
TacticsWD 343 · pp. 66–71
The army guide combines each faction’s character and preferred fighting style with the practical effect of fifth edition. Hordes, elite specialists, resilient troops and mobile firepower offer different starting points for a new collection. Better vehicle survival, objective-holding Troops, running and revised cover alter their possibilities in different ways. The comparisons help both first-time collectors and existing players relate the new rules to the army they want to build.
Warhammer 40,000Imperial Guard
TacticsWD 343 · p. 67
The Guard offers numerous inexpensive soldiers, extensive artillery and a larger range of tanks than other armies. Individual infantry may struggle in combat, but massed shots and powerful ordnance make the force formidable at range. The new damage system protects its vehicles better, cheap Troops can occupy objectives and enemies can no longer roll directly from one successful assault into another. The guide presents those changes as support for its existing massed-firepower identity.
Warhammer 40,000Imperial Guard
TacticsWD 343 · p. 67
Tyranids combine masses of Gaunts with huge monsters and independent close-assault predators, all directed by the Hive Mind. The guide stresses using these elements together rather than expecting a single creature type to solve every problem. Replenishing Gaunts supply objective troops, while revised assaults make enemy rear armour vulnerable. Deep-striking and infiltrating organisms can threaten important positions early, though destroying heavy vehicles from a distance remains difficult.
Warhammer 40,000Tyranids
TacticsWD 343 · p. 68
Space Marines are introduced as a compact, resilient and flexible force suited to concentrated strikes. Scouts, artillery, assault units and transports let the collection address many battlefield roles. Fifth edition makes its well-equipped Troops especially valuable, reduces the risk of deep strike and improves the survival of the vehicles carrying them. The entry points towards a forthcoming codex while explaining the immediate usefulness of an existing Marine collection.
Warhammer 40,000Space Marines
TacticsWD 343 · p. 68
Chaos Marines retain their loyalist counterparts’ strength but add brutal specialists, possessed warriors and daemon-driven machinery. Their god-aligned cult troops become particularly useful because they occupy the scoring Troops category. Tougher transports and walkers also benefit a force rich in unusual vehicles. Obliterators gain further appeal from the changed blast rules, illustrating how the army’s exotic options can support the new emphasis on holding ground.
Warhammer 40,000Chaos Space Marines
TacticsWD 343 · p. 69
The Necrons’ limited variety is balanced by unusual resilience and dangerous gauss fire. Their simple warrior shapes suit quick army painting, while C’tan offer ambitious display pieces. Under the new missions, durable Warrior units make stubborn objective holders. The Monolith also benefits from vehicle resilience and strong armour on every side, reinforcing the force’s image as an implacable advance rather than a diverse collection of fragile specialists.
Warhammer 40,000Necrons
TacticsWD 343 · p. 69
The new Daemon army offers unusual collecting freedom and a game plan built around arriving from the Warp rather than normal deployment. Deep strike can seize positions or target exposed enemies, with the challenge of choosing where and when different specialists become useful. Running and widespread Fleet make the host especially mobile after arrival. The article treats its open painting possibilities and unconventional battlefield entry as equally distinctive reasons to collect it.
Warhammer 40,000Chaos Daemons
TacticsWD 343 · p. 70
The diminished Eldar rely on specialised troops whose excellence in one role demands coordinated use. Their range offers varied models and approaches for both gamers and painters. Improved cover in fifth edition makes fragile units harder to remove, with concealed Rangers benefiting especially. Sniper changes, more resilient vehicles and revised combat participation add other advantages, preserving the army’s precise style while increasing its ability to survive enemy retaliation.
Warhammer 40,000Eldar
TacticsWD 343 · p. 70
Dark Eldar use speed and an overwhelming first attack to avoid the prolonged fights that expose their frailty. The entry connects that style to their cruel background and mobile vehicles. Better cover saves offer additional protection when their transports exploit terrain, while dark lances remain valuable against heavy armour. Choosing this force means directing fast, purposeful strikes rather than trying to win a slow contest of endurance.
Warhammer 40,000Dark Eldar
TacticsWD 343 · p. 71
Orks fight for battle itself, typically combining numerous short-ranged warriors with improvised vehicles that deliver them quickly to combat. Running lets the horde close sooner and helps set up an early Waaagh! More resilient vehicles protect fragile transports, and penetrations no longer automatically force passengers to disembark. Ramming gives their commanders another suitably direct option. The new rules therefore reinforce both the infantry tide and its reckless mechanical support.
Warhammer 40,000Orks
TacticsWD 343 · p. 71
Tau manoeuvre to keep enemies at shooting distance, supported by mobile battlesuits, vehicles and allied species covering their weaknesses. True line of sight increases opportunities for their powerful guns, while running lets isolated units reposition or withdraw. Railguns benefit from the new damage modifiers. Preventing enemies from consolidating into fresh combats gives nearby Fire Warriors a further chance to stop an assault before it reaches them.
Warhammer 40,000Tau Empire
CampaignWD 343 · pp. 72–79
Gav Thorpe and Jervis Johnson turn two famous invasions into narrative games. The Hunt of the Vlagians follows Dwarf survivors through ambush, rearguard defence and a desperate escape, with early outcomes changing the finale. A separate Legendary Battle recreates Lord Kroak’s defence of Itza against an extraordinary concentration of Greater Daemons. Additional terrain and Mighty Empires ideas show how the themes can extend into a wider campaign.
Warhammer Fantasy BattlesDaemons of Chaos
CampaignWD 343 · pp. 73–77
Anarbarziz returns to find Karak Vlag vanished, then leads its surviving warriors south in search of safety. A Slaaneshi Keeper of Secrets pursues them, gains Tzeentchian allies and eventually traps the Dwarfs between two Daemon armies. The campaign retells that doomed journey through three playable battles. Earlier Daemon victories grant free Greater Daemons at the final confrontation, but the Dwarfs can change the legend if even one ordered unit escapes the canyon.
Warhammer Fantasy BattlesDwarfs
RulesWD 343 · p. 75
A Slaaneshi army surrounds a Dwarf host crossing a barren volcanic plateau. The Dwarfs deploy centrally before their opponents appear near any edge, making the entire perimeter dangerous. Clouds of steam limit ranged attacks through a variable spotting distance, weakening the defenders’ expected shooting advantage. Equal forces fight six turns and use ordinary victory points, with the result feeding the later campaign rather than ending the escape attempt.
Warhammer Fantasy BattlesDwarfs
RulesWD 343 · p. 76
A small Dwarf rearguard delays twice its points in Daemons inside a confined underground hall. Both armies lack Lords and units remain small, while half the attackers arrive gradually through an entrance. The defence ends when a Daemon unit gets closer to the exit than any Dwarf, with survival time deciding the chance of victory. The scenario makes delaying action, rather than enemy destruction, the measure of a successful sacrifice.
Warhammer Fantasy BattlesDwarfs
RulesWD 343 · p. 76
A special campaign tile represents the heart of a daemonic incursion and can serve as a Daemon player’s starting city. Before battles, a random divine response can reduce the army, leave it unchanged or provide additional troops. The short rule connects the gods’ unpredictable favour to the scale of the next game. It offers a simple way to place the narrative scenarios within a continuing territorial campaign.
Warhammer Fantasy BattlesDaemons of Chaos
RulesWD 343 · p. 77
The surviving Dwarfs deploy in a canyon’s centre, facing Slaaneshi and Tzeentchian attackers at one end and Khorne’s host at the other. Earlier Daemon victories may add powerful leaders without a points cost. The long edges cannot be crossed, and the Dwarfs lack the units that could easily evade the trap. Victory requires just one unit to leave a narrow end in good order, preserving a fragile possibility of rescue against encirclement.
Warhammer Fantasy BattlesDwarfs
RulesWD 343 · p. 77
A surviving cult altar still channels Chaos power into the battlefield. Holding its immediate surroundings adds a power die for the Daemon army, while losing the site removes one instead. Enemy presence prevents control, so the scenery creates a local contest with a wider magical effect. The feature gives the ruined terrain a clear narrative function and a reason for both armies to commit troops nearby.
Warhammer Fantasy BattlesDaemons of Chaos
RulesWD 343 · pp. 78–79
The Itza refight places a living Lord Kroak on the city’s great pyramid against a massive Daemon invasion. His magic can reach farther and strike harder, and his spirit continues casting after death while banishing the enemies around him. The attackers may gather up to twelve Greater Daemons in an exceptional mixed Monstrous Horde. Ordinary Legendary Battles objectives remain, but Kroak’s survival or death carries a large additional score, making the ancient mage central to the outcome.
Warhammer Fantasy BattlesLizardmen
EditorialWD 343 · pp. 80–82
Jervis joins his son Jack as a spare team at the Warhammer 40,000 Doubles Tournament and enjoys its relaxed social character. Small individual forces let painters devote unusual care to conversions and details, making the best-army display a highlight of the weekend. He explains the shortlist and player-vote system, then celebrates the different approaches of the showcased teams. The column encourages both attending such events and organising similar shared games locally.
Warhammer 40,000Dark Angels
ModellingWD 343 · p. 83
The new cloth-backed mat provides a portable battlefield that can be placed over furniture or fixed to a permanent board. Books or boxes underneath form simple slopes, while terrain placed on top completes the surface. The guide describes fastening it taut for a quick textured board and cleaning it after spills. Its flexible backing and resistance to creasing make storage and repeated use easier than the earlier mat.
PaintingWD 343 · pp. 84–89
Fil Dunn uses pale, horizontally lined flesh to suggest a huge animal’s loose skin, contrasting it with dark armour and worn leather. Shared brown foundations unite the surfaces, while different kinds of highlights distinguish rough skin from scales, metal and straps. Repeated black washes tarnish the iron before silver chips and rust restore detail. Bloody steel, lined nails and small facial accents finish an army centrepiece whose apparent scale comes from texture as well as size.
Middle-earth Strategy Battle GameMordor25 paint colours
PaintingWD 343 · p. 85
Fil builds the flesh from dark brown through progressively paler skin mixtures, applying each stage in horizontal marks that preserve creases. The texture draws on large mammals and helps the model feel enormous. A glaze combining flesh and purple washes with matt varnish ties the area together, while cooler shading changes the face. The guide also explains painting from the inside out to protect finished outer details from earlier messy work.
Middle-earth Strategy Battle GameMordor7 paint colours
PaintingWD 343 · p. 86
A brown base and liberal dark wash prepare the Troll’s rough skin patches before fine bone-tinted lines pick out individual scales. A final sharper edge increases their apparent hardness, while brown lining avoids the excessive contrast black would produce against the flesh. The accompanying advice distinguishes hard glossy surfaces from matt skin or cloth. The same basic sequence can therefore be adapted to other scaled creatures without applying identical highlights everywhere.
Middle-earth Strategy Battle GameMordor3 paint colours
PaintingWD 343 · p. 87
Bright metal is deliberately darkened through several fully dried black washes before carefully placed silver chips and edges restore its shape. Further shading ages selected damage, and a thin brown wash adds rust in recesses. The sword uses fewer wash layers to stay brighter than the armour. Varying the treatment of individual scratches makes the damage appear accumulated over time rather than inflicted all at once.
Middle-earth Strategy Battle GameMordor4 paint colours
PaintingWD 343 · p. 88
Dark hide and brown straps share a foundation colour but diverge through black shading and different pale highlights. The hide keeps a subdued surface beneath the armour, while small lighter marks imitate cracks at places the straps bend. Looking at actual belts and jackets helps place the wear convincingly. The sequence maintains the miniature’s dark equipment while preserving enough contrast to separate leather, metal fittings and pale skin.
Middle-earth Strategy Battle GameMordor8 paint colours
PaintingWD 343 · p. 89
The blade receives dark, layered blood with a glossy red finishing coat to suggest fresh wetness. The severed head repeats the Troll’s flesh mixture with additional grey, keeping the grisly detail within the model’s palette. Nails use fine growth lines, warm wash and pale edges, while tiny eye highlights sharpen the expression. The finished example and alternative kit assemblies show how these methods can support several distinct Troll models.
Middle-earth Strategy Battle GameMordor11 paint colours
PaintingWD 343 · pp. 90–94
The workshop distinguishes three related uses of transparent colour. Washing gathers shade in recesses, glazing subtly changes or unifies an existing finish, and staining supplies much of the colour itself over a prepared light surface. Damrod, warm skin, yellow armour and a red cloak demonstrate the differences, with expert examples showing more advanced effects. The guide explains why similar materials can produce very different results depending on consistency, quantity and the surface beneath.
Middle-earth Strategy Battle GameWarhammer Fantasy Battles25 paint colours
PaintingWD 343 · pp. 90–91
A basecoat, wash and restored highlight give Damrod’s green clothing, pale skin and brown leather quick definition. Additional green edges sharpen the most visible folds. The surrounding explanation describes how a wash changes both recesses and raised surfaces, and suggests testing paint-based mixtures when using other colours. The example demonstrates a repeatable tabletop method in which modest layers produce useful shade without elaborate blending.
Middle-earth Strategy Battle GameGondor8 paint colours
PaintingWD 343 · pp. 92–93
Thin transparent layers can restore colour after strong highlighting, smooth a transition or create a warmer hue without hiding the work beneath. Examples enrich Orc skin, produce yellow armour and unify a red cloak, while a Griffon shows how a muted glaze strengthens earlier blending. Martin Footitt and Kirsten Williams demonstrate how controlled tinting changes the mood of metal or removes chalkiness from scales. Finish and consistency determine whether the result is subtle or glossy.
Warhammer Fantasy BattlesWarhammer 40,000High Elves16 paint colours
PaintingWD 343 · p. 94
Staining uses a transparent wash to colour an initially pale surface, either a white undercoat or a dark model drybrushed white. A horse illustrates how the prepared light and shade remain visible beneath the tint. A Foundation-painted figure demonstrates an all-over brown stain that simultaneously unifies materials and deepens their texture. Neat initial coats matter, and a few restored flesh and edge highlights can finish the effect.
2 paint colours
ModellingWD 343 · pp. 96–101
The workshop starts by matching a gaming surface to space, budget, games and practical skill. It then constructs a reinforced MDF board, textures it with sand and offers several paint schemes for different worlds. City Ruins and matching bases add a usable terrain collection, while a large cathedral demonstrates a more ambitious destination. The emphasis is on choosing a manageable first board that can support many games and grow with the modeller’s experience.
Warhammer 40,000Warhammer Fantasy Battles14 paint colours
ModellingWD 343 · p. 98
Mark and Chad build a wooden support frame for a large MDF surface, fixing the sheet with glue and pins once the edges align. Sand applied over strips of PVA gives texture without the adhesive drying too early. Rechecking bare patches and removing loose grains prepares a durable surface for paint. The guide suggests using a timber-cutting service to improve accuracy and reduce the work needed before modelling begins.
PaintingWD 343 · p. 99
A sealing basecoat locks the sand down before broad drybrushed highlights create a fast battlefield finish. The main earth scheme can be matched with household emulsion for economical coverage. Alternatives develop a warm desert, red Martian ground and a green-grey moonscape, the last using textured wallpaper instead of sand. Varying drybrush intensity creates natural changes across the surface without requiring individually painted details.
12 paint colours
ModellingWD 343 · pp. 100–101
Chad builds ruins from the City Ruins kits, adding frame offcuts and girders as debris. Sloping foam-board bases receive sand and colours matching the gaming surface. Sprayed earth-grey walls, pale drybrushing and separate floor colours establish the buildings before selected brown weathering. The completed collection demonstrates a coherent battlezone, while other examples show how the same construction principles can serve a desert or a fully landscaped Middle-earth table.
Warhammer 40,000Warhammer Fantasy Battles6 paint colours
CommunityWD 343 · pp. 102–104
The preview maps an expanded Birmingham event across three halls, with participation games, the Golden Demon display, Studio demonstrations and club support. A larger hobby area offers conversions and scenery projects, while archive displays continue the Warhammer anniversary. Computer-game partners, Black Library authors and Warhammer Historical add other ways to explore the settings and hobby. The article presents planned attractions and a new hall arrangement rather than a report of an event already held.
Warhammer 40,000Warhammer Fantasy Battles
