WHITE DWARF · AUGUST 2013
Lizardmen emerge with new flying reptiles and armoured monsters to face the Tomb Kings. Bretonnian campaigning, a converted hive city, Chaos squads and colourful reptile recipes accompany the release.
COVER TO COVER
In printed page order
Jes Bickham welcomes the Lizardmen’s new monsters and airborne riders. Their bright colours offer a varied painting challenge alongside their role in the Great Plan. A battle against Tomb Kings puts the large reptiles on the table. Elsewhere a hive-city project and characterful converted squads carry the issue into Warhammer 40,000.
The blind Troglodon hunts through scent, sound and a poisonous attack. Its forked tail connects it to the Skink Oracle permitted to approach and ride it. Plaques and ornate reins suggest their joint search for lost Old One relics. The rider can carry a javelin or a divining rod, giving the plastic model different stages of that quest.
The Carnosaur and its rider roar together above the battlefield. A stone throne, shield and three weapon choices distinguish the Saurus hero. Two head options allow further variation. Building the main creature as a Troglodon leaves sufficient pieces for a separate Saurus leader on foot.
The Carnosaur kit also creates the ancient champion Kroq-Gar. Golden armour and a more ornate throne establish his status among the Saurus. Grymloq receives distinctive head decoration to match the rider. The Hand of Gods and other relics connect this powerful pair to the Slann who direct them.
The Bastiladon resembles a living tank beneath heavy plates and a formidable tail. One build carries a Solar Engine with prisms, mirrors and an incongruously five-fingered activation switch. Another mounts the Ark of Sotek, whose agitated snakes spill onto nearby enemies. Those small operating details make each alternative feel like an actual contraption rather than a decorative load.
The three flying reptiles carry carved rocks for dropping onto the enemy. Skink riders can use javelins or combustible fireleech bolas. A separate leader head distinguishes the champion, while ruined masonry supports the bases. Adam particularly enjoys how the new ranged weapon grows from the strange ecology of Lustria.
Ripperdactyls exchange the Terradons’ elegance for hooked jaws and slashing claws. Their armoured Skinks resemble primitive aerial knights. Distinctive heads and crests help differentiate models sharing the same underlying kit. A Blot Toad supplies a narrative explanation for the creatures’ particularly violent response to selected enemies.
The Terradon box includes parts to build Tiktaq’to instead of an ordinary rider. His elaborate Mask of Heavens and curved blade establish the named champion. Zwup shares the detailed anatomy of the new Terradons. The review connects those pieces to the character’s ability to work closely with his mount.
The flying-rider kit provides a second character option in the form of a Skink Chief. A golden toothed axe distinguishes him from the ordinary riders. He can ride either a Terradon or a Ripperdactyl. His determined pose establishes a small but prominent leader for the army’s airborne hunters.
The plastic priest rises above a small ruined staircase while gesturing towards his target. Feathers, jewellery and a ceremonial dagger distinguish his status despite the figure’s size. Carved glyphs connect the base to the wider Lustrian setting. Adam highlights the depth and detail possible in a compact single-frame character.
The renowned astromancer sits on a stone palanquin normally associated with the Slann. That unusual presentation establishes the reverence accorded to this small Skink. A celestial orrery crowns his staff while another device rests before him. The sculpt expresses foresight and astronomical power rather than physical aggression.
Gor-Rok stands taller and broader than an ordinary Saurus. Albino skin, a damaged eye and many scars make his long history visible. Additional scales and armour suggest a warrior spawned for exceptional endurance. Andrew presents the Finecast figure as a strong focal point within an infantry battle line.
The battalion supplies Saurus, Skinks, Temple Guard and Cold One Riders. It therefore combines several different troop roles rather than repeating a single core unit. Eight cards cover the army’s High Magic spells. The overview introduces those practical collecting and reference aids without reproducing the complete army rules.
Jeremy Vetock’s book explains the Lizardmen as the Old Ones’ successors and long-standing enemies of Chaos. Their origins give context to the new monsters and ancient relics. The bestiary mixes brutal creatures with the peculiar humour of Lustria. A varied miniature gallery encourages different spawning colours and distinctive monster patterns alongside the army rules.
The explorer stands among treasures taken from Lustria, dressed in a flamboyant cape and feathered hat. Small reptiles and a concealed snake make the plunder less innocent than it first appears. A carefully packed egg hints at another potential danger behind his journey. Dan finds the Finecast model an appropriate exclusive for a month focused on the Lizardmen.
Bilbo runs low to the ground while reaching around to draw Sting. His upward glance suggests both caution and determination. The tiny figure captures a hero who is becoming willing to fight for his companions. Adam connects the pose to the climactic action of An Unexpected Journey.
The tour update marks Memphis as completed and lists the remaining European events. Marco Colombo is now revealed as the exclusive miniature. Golden Demon and Armies on Parade continue to offer opportunities for presenting finished hobby work. The feature records the historical programme and its competitions rather than a current event calendar.
The compilation pairs Helsreach with the new Blood and Fire novella. Grimaldus must balance an instinct for attack with responsibility for defending a populated hive. Human soldiers and a Titan crew broaden the account beyond the Black Templars. The second story turns to the endangered Celestial Lions and the loyalty shown to fellow sons of Dorn.
Ben Counter places the Imperial Fists and Guard in a destructive war for Opis. Dan praises the speed and brutality of the action while also noting the interactions between the two Imperial forces. Lysander remains stoic and uncompromising throughout. The review presents the novel as more substantial than its very high casualty count alone suggests.
Four novellas bring different writers to Gotrek and Felix’s adventures. Andrew particularly enjoys Charnel Congress, which follows a Necromancer through Hel Fenn with the undead close behind. The other stories extend the pair’s travels and dangers across the Old World. A nearby audio notice also introduces a tense alliance between the Flesh Tearers and Inquisition at Armageddon.
A short release notice sends the Flesh Tearers and their Inquisitorial allies after a valuable prize on Armageddon. Chapter Master Seth must judge whether their apparent cooperation conceals another purpose. The premise places suspicion alongside the war against the Orks. The magazine supplies an introduction to the audio drama rather than a full account of its story.
A broken Thunderhawk becomes both cover and a narrative objective. Its crew’s gene-seed and remaining materiel give Space Marines a reason to recover the wreck. The tile matches the standard Realm of Battle dimensions. Adam also points out its suitability as a display base for Armies on Parade.
The Lizardmen army book gains digital references and rotating miniature views. A separate painting volume covers the new plastics and established units with alternate schemes. Black Legion receives a supplement containing its history, timeline, gallery and additional rules. The notices distinguish these electronic products from the print material supplied in the scan.
Thomas Hentschel Lund explains how Full Control adapts the board game and its Sin of Damnation campaign. Solo play uses Genestealer artificial intelligence, while shared-device and cross-platform modes provide other options. Cooperative play is his particular favourite. The example of Zael’s heavy flamer shows how animation can bring a familiar board-game moment to life.
Jamie’s collection has been repeatedly rebuilt across twelve years and hundreds of games. Historical siege warfare, John Blanche’s conversions and fiction all shape its identity. Every model receives some personal alteration, from head swaps to ambitious vehicle changes. Trophies record actual opponents and battles, making the army a visual history rather than a set of anonymous spikes and skulls.
Jervis considers scenery an increasingly central part of a hobby collection. He plans terrain both for a convincing setting and for varied tactical problems. Shared effort between friends can build a useful range without everyone duplicating the same pieces. Fortifications that belong to an army provide a third reason to collect scenery alongside the battlefield itself.
Adam’s Lizardmen invade Andrew’s Naqqara dynasty in a monster-heavy Meeting Engagement. The Necrosphinx destroys the Carnosaur and riders, while the Stegadon avenges the Troglodon against the opposing constructs. Carefully aligned charges let Saurus and supporting beasts overwhelm the Tomb King’s regiment. The Bastiladon then kills the Hierophant, leaving the Lizardmen victorious after heavy losses on both sides.
Meeting Engagement makes victory points the main measure of success and can delay units at deployment. After a first battle ends very quickly, Andrew adopts a more defensive position on a hill. His characters and constructs support the infantry around them. The article explains the revised deployment and reserves rather than introducing a new bespoke mission.
Duncan Rhodes uses a Blood in the Badlands campaign to turn a small Bretonnian army into a cast of characters. Personal rules give knights precedence in charging and prevent them voluntarily abandoning the Lady’s blessing. Coordinated cavalry attacks supply the main striking power while peasants delay other threats. Rivalries and promotions emerging in the campaign become the lasting reward for that deliberately characterful style.
Ray Dranfield’s team gives every building a distinct purpose while keeping the city coherent. Carefully planned plinths, octagonal structures and an improvised landing pad push familiar kits beyond their standard shapes. Interiors, battle damage and reused offcuts add detail without obstructing play. An Arbites precinct and Administratum building make the setting recognisable as an oppressive Imperial city.
Stuart Williamson nominates the Tantalus for maintaining Dark Eldar elegance at a much larger scale. Daren Parrwood describes the responsibility of extending another designer’s established shapes. Sweeping hull lines and a crisp sail preserve that identity. Brass-etched decking solves a problem that would have made delicate resin flooring impractical.
Seb Perbet, Matt Holland and Alex Hedström explain the different characters of the new Lustrian monsters. The Carnosaur becomes a stronger apex predator, while cave adaptations and crocodilian details make the Troglodon unsettling. A Bastiladon combines armour from many animals into a living battering ram. Flying piranha imagery and more graceful Terradons show how a shared kit can support very different creatures.
Trish Carden recalls combining triceratops, rhinoceros and elephant ideas for the original Stegadon. Dave Thomas later develops a more aggressive head for the plastic version. Martin Footitt builds a layered howdah imagined to move with the creature beneath it. The sidebar connects that earlier redesign to the newer generation of Lizardmen monsters.
Chris alternates work on a large Zombie horde with models he especially wants to paint. Blood Knights, spectral characters and a Varghulf provide those rewards. Their completion helps sustain his enthusiasm for the remaining rank and file. The entry shows a practical way to keep a demanding display project enjoyable.
Nick’s slow beginning gives way to a completed Tactical squad. The work arrives in time for the magazine despite the earlier lack of finished models. He now intends to accelerate as the competition approaches. The update presents deadline pressure as a familiar part of his personal painting rhythm.
Carl’s planned Ogre regiment falls behind as other commitments take his time. A Hunter and one warrior nevertheless show some progress. He promises to catch up in the next instalment. The entry captures the ordinary scheduling difficulties behind an ambitious month-by-month hobby plan.
Eddie works through Harlequins and jetbikes with extensive checked decoration. The pattern demands patience more than a complicated basic technique. Although the effort is greater than he expected, the developing army rewards it visually. A possible later demonstration is mentioned without supplying the method in this entry.
Dan combines work on a display board with a new unit of Pistoliers and a Witch Hunter. Two Fortified Manors establish the scenery around his Realm of Battle tile. The riders wear the army’s Ostermark colours. Red connects the Witch Hunter to the Death’s Heads completed in the previous instalment.
Jon supplies more Plaguebearers and a Beast of Nurgle for the growing display. A Herald and Plague Hulk remain partly finished behind the visible progress. Their larger painting demands explain why not all his work appears in the photograph. The update keeps the project moving towards both troop numbers and centrepieces.
Dominic completes the month’s Stealth Team and begins preparing Crisis suits for the next stage. His palette relies on bright red and yellow balanced by black. Limiting the main colours helps the small force appear clean and coherent. A unit-per-month target keeps progress manageable alongside the display board.
Duncan gives every infantry squad its own transport with matching identification. The growing force uses mainly Forge World models but incorporates many compatible Citadel components. An Apothecary and command figures provide visual variety without abandoning the Legion palette. Transfers and consistent company markings make the collection look organised as a military formation.
Maxime Pastourel combines imaginative Nurgle conversions with smoothly painted pale armour. Oil leaks and orange rust disturb the otherwise clean finish. A Chimera-based transport contains enough interior room to position the entire squad. The vehicle’s unusual chimney and other additions extend the same corrupted mechanical theme as the infantry.
Will Hayes equips half a Carcharodons squad for close combat while the remainder retains fire support. The models can divide into two groups beside their Razorback. Tribal freehand, urban bases and blood spatter tie them to his Badab campaign collection. The conversion choices follow the army’s character and contemporary options rather than decoration alone.
Steve Whitehead develops a successor Chapter using Blood Angels parts and sculpted shoulder details. Red armour, white elements and freehand fangs make the collection distinctive. A Rhino carries the Death Company’s identifying cross. More figures remain on the desk as the squad grows beyond the group shown.
Chris Pritchard paints a Fire Dragon squad in its traditional warm Aspect colours. Its Wave Serpent instead uses the blue and white of his invented craftworld, Ctho. Crisp freehand flames connect the infantry and vehicle despite that contrast. The squad’s regular battlefield role supplies a history alongside its carefully finished appearance.
Mark Bedford pairs Grey Knight Terminators with a substantial Land Raider Redeemer. Forge World doors declare the transport’s allegiance. Weathering concentrates on areas of heavy use such as tracks and gun barrels. The group forms a hard-hitting element within his larger Grey Knights collection.
Tom Moore’s Imperial Fists combine correct markings with small painted scripts on armour and seals. Their Rhino carries the same careful finish. Damien Pedley supplies an Inquisitorial retinue with converted Servitors and a worn transport. The paired selections contrast neat military identity with a more varied group of individual agents.
John Bracken starts a Night Lords army for urban fighting inspired by Spyral Prime and Heresy fiction. Short-range weapons suit the chosen squad’s intended role. Marine, Chaos Knight and Warp Talon components create individual warriors with shared bat imagery. Dark Elf cloaks and small sculpted joins demonstrate the value of retaining spare pieces across different ranges.
Deliverance Lost inspires Adam Snook’s unit of infiltrators using stolen equipment. Sanguinary Guard and Warp Talon parts combine heroic and corrupted shapes. Broken Manufactorum pieces make the figures appear to advance through ruined city structures. The squad becomes the intended beginning of a larger army based on deception and sudden attack.
Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Night Lords novels lead Steve Harris to expand a Terminator project into a wider army. The new Havocs provide fire support. Loyal Marine components supply useful poses and weapons once Imperial insignia are carefully defaced. Spikes, damaged armour and mixed parts turn those familiar pieces into veterans of a long war.
Dan paints the rider, monster and two reins as separate components. This preserves access and prevents the quick work on the large creature spoiling the smaller parts. Pale flesh receives controlled layers, while red scales use drybrushing and a wash. Only after completing the four sections does he bring the model together.
Black scales receive grey drybrushing before a dark wash restores their depth. Horns progress from warm brown into pale bone. Grey stone carries contrasting red and blue decorations and weathered shading. Metallic drybrushing and successive washes give the gold a more aged appearance, with a sidebar explaining how to control the amount of paint on the brush.
Chris Peach uses wasp-like warning colours across the monster’s armour. Drybrushed grey defines the dark shell before orange and yellow create a striking pattern. Stippling follows the peaks and troughs of a sound recording as a visual guide. A separate yellow crystal recipe finishes with gloss for the Solar Engine.
Naturalistic green skin and pale membranes connect the Terradons to a rainforest canopy. Drybrushing builds their texture over a dark undercoat. A yellow glaze enriches the body while green markings vary the wings. White patterning adds another layer of definition to the skin.
Orange and flesh tones give the Ripperdactyls a more aggressive appearance than the Terradons. Warm shading settles the skin and wing colours. Pale feather foundations take yellow and green washes before white sharpens the finish. The Skink is painted separately and attached after both figures are complete.
Blue skin unites the army despite the monsters’ many different colours. Yellow and orange markings distinguish individual spawnings. A separate sequence produces the familiar red-crested Skinks. Diluted dark blue defines the scales, and the guide points back to the Carnosaur for the shields’ textured treatment.
Ray’s team gives buildings different colours from a shared set of neutral tones. Sprayed foundations receive varied middle colours and pale drybrushed highlights. Brown and grey examples illustrate the method without requiring every structure to match. Different brush sizes help keep the later highlights on raised architectural details.
Stippled browns and orange imitate the uneven corrosion visible on real pipes. Small metallic patches suggest places where the rust has chipped away. The statue uses a thin green-grey wash to stain recesses like oxidised bronze. A gold drybrush restores raised details without removing the aged appearance.
Jeremy watches a strong scenario idea become diluted as every player tries to insert a favourite army. He argues that an organiser should be allowed to set a coherent challenge. The same variety of preference applies to painting advice, where harsh criticism can discourage learning. Constructive suggestions and opportunities to run different events make that diversity more useful than trying to satisfy every opinion at once.
Beth advances her Lizardmen monsters while Jes starts a small Tau force. Other projects range from corrupted Thallax to Inquisitorial agents and red Ork aircraft. Blood effects on Beth’s Talos combine a dark wash with red paint. The update records a busy shared painting environment alongside more games and renewed enthusiasm from the new releases.
The first Lizardmen and Tomb Kings battle ends before it can sustain the main report. Both sides deploy aggressively, allowing decisive combats almost immediately. Walk Between Worlds puts Salamanders beside the archers and Hierophant, destroying the unit with a concentrated attack. With the infantry centre also collapsing, Andrew and Adam reset for the longer game published earlier in the issue.
Jeremy Vetock presents the Lizardmen as the world’s best remaining hope against Chaos. Their creators’ disappearance leaves incomplete instructions and a society struggling to preserve its purpose. Slann, Saurus and Skinks have distinct intended roles, but long meditation and lost knowledge complicate that order. The army’s resilience, magic and misunderstood technology express those ideas in play.
Chris Peach and Steve Bowerman use real reptiles and fish to plan the studio army’s colours. Blue skin and consistent metal unite the force, while scales identify separate spawnings. Skinks and Kroxigor sharing a spawning receive matching markings. Pale Temple Guard and bright monster patterns add variety without losing the army’s common visual language.
Seb Perbet and Matt Holland explain how role and anatomy determine the new riders’ proportions. Large Saurus leaders keep relatively small facial features while gaining heavier bodies and crests. Athletic flying Skinks differ from smaller howdah crew. Distinct faces and spare frame space also create opportunities for individual character and a separate foot hero.
Duncan’s Mighty Empires map gives his campaign a detailed physical setting. Cork mountains, foliage and individually modelled army markers show how its history develops. Chad’s Necron collection supplies a contrasting current painting project. Bright blue highlights make the Triarch Stalker’s details appear luminous.
Steve Whitehead’s first finished Palatine Blades return from moulding for a preview. Charnabal swords and elaborate armour identify Fulgrim’s chosen duellists. Winged Legion details mix with more unsettling faces and decorations. The models suggest both ceremonial excellence and the darker identity developing after the Emperor’s Children fall.
Edgar Skomorowski follows his power-armoured commander with a Praetor in modified Cataphractii armour. Battle-worn faces and exceptional equipment provide the sculpting appeal. Further Space Marine work remains on his desk. The preview records this stage of a developing character range rather than a complete released rules entry.
Paul Rudge paints the crashed Thunderhawk tile to match his Death Guard. That decision turns a generic scenery release into part of a specific force’s history. The surrounding Legion models reinforce the intended recovery narrative. He plans to use the wreck as an objective in future Heresy games.
Aaron Dembski-Bowden sees Armageddon as a concentrated image of the Imperium’s desperate wider situation. Helsreach lets him develop Grimaldus through leadership, loss and a brutal siege. Blood and Fire tests the difference between a glorious last stand and preserving the Celestial Lions for the future. The interview also touches on his own armies and preference for Ghazghkull over Yarrick.
All substantive new-release reviews, modelling features, interviews, galleries, battle material, seven War Diary updates, painting recipes and staff projects in the supplied August 2013 issue are indexed. The unusual Reikland Flesh label and red/blue stone decorations were visually verified. Routine prices, advertisements, directories, event calendars and the closing quotation are excluded.