WHITE DWARF · FEBRUARY 2017
Ynnari arrive through designers’ notes, background and a full Yncarne recipe. The six-month warlord challenge ends in a multiplayer battle, while Stormcast hunt Tzeentch, Silver Tower gains adversaries and extensive painting covers Daemons, heroes and terrain. Ads and direct catalogues are excluded; externally referenced Tzaangor and Kairic painting downloads are not reproduced as magazine articles.
COVER TO COVER
In printed page order
The editorial introduces the next Gathering Storm chapter through a mixture of hope and danger for the Eldar. A large painting section, the conclusion of the four-warlord challenge and new Stormcast and Tzeentch models supply the issue’s other major themes.
The next Gathering Storm book follows the Eldar alongside the events on Cadia. Yvraine’s quest to awaken Ynnead offers a possible answer to Slaanesh at a terrible cost, with new characters, faction rules and missions translating the upheaval into collecting and gaming opportunities.
Yvraine, the Visarch and the Yncarne represent priestess, ancient warrior and spectral avatar. Annotated details connect their baroque armour, spirit stones and blades to the earlier Aeldari civilisation, while an itinerary traces Yvraine’s passage from Commorragh through several Craftworlds towards the surviving Cadians.
The new plastic Greater Daemon includes multiple faces, arcane weapons and the two-headed Kairos alternative. The preview stresses that apparent frailty disguises immense power and introduces several named Lords of Change whose plots extend from Grey Knights to the world-that-was.
The Changeling’s new model returns to a preferred many-armed, robed shape after a career of impersonation. Its Trickster Staff and conjured fire reinforce the appearance of a creature whose true identity has been lost even to itself.
The new set represents two successive stages of a Pink Horror’s destruction. Bitter blue creatures split again into paired flames, allowing collectors either to form separate units or portray the multiplying remnants of a larger Horror host.
Tzeentch’s beastmen combine avian mutations with cruel intelligence and martial ambition. The infantry set’s shields, falchions, sacrificial blades and leaders distinguish it from the gun-bearing presentation recently released for the far future.
Favoured Tzaangors receive knowledge of the past or future, expressed through spears or fate-guided bows. The three-model kit can produce these different roles, with mutated Discs of Tzeentch giving the chosen warriors flying mounts and additional blades.
The warflock’s sorcerer combines prophetic insight with the power to transform enemies into more Tzaangors. A Disc, scrolls, ritual blade and enhancing elixir visibly mark his privileged place within the cult.
A pack of large-format unit cards lets players bring only their relevant profiles to a game. Pop-out markers help track artefacts and temporary abilities, addressing the practical challenge of remembering a growing army’s special rules.
Reavers and Hellions contest the Dark City’s dangerous skies in a fast standalone game. Daredevil movement and interactions between numerous models distinguish it from a simple duel, while an included campaign system develops gangs between lunchtime-sized battles.
An expanded battletome gathers the previous Stormcast material and introduces the Auxiliary Chambers. Artefacts, prayers, mount traits, battalions and multiple play frameworks present Sigmar’s warriors as a larger and more customisable force.
The Auxiliary Chambers’ raiders pursue weak points and supply lines before vanishing from the enemy’s reach. Their new infantry kit combines compact ranged weapons, alternative blades, astral compasses and beast pelts, including an unmasked head.
A six-model pack expands the Stormcast’s familiar companions into hunting groups. Interchangeable bodies and heads, including an armoured Alpha, provide variety and can also personalise hounds accompanying existing heroes.
A compact bestiary contrasts Azyr’s birds, hunting beasts and mighty descendants of Dracothion. Their perception of sorcery, alliances with Stormcast and distinct appetites or temperaments make them participants in the setting rather than interchangeable mounts.
New alien vegetation and mysterious ruins establish a battlefield whose plants can be as dangerous as its inhabitants. The boxed collection includes several growth stages of Venomgorse, crystal spines and mobile Grappleweeds, offering a distinctive alternative to Imperial ruins.
The Macrocarid Explorator combines transport, armour and esoteric weapons, while the Vultarax patrols the skies as a huge semi-sentient drone. Annotated equipment explains how both designs reflect the Mechanicum’s specialised approach to war during the Heresy.
The Dwarf Blood Bowl team brings resilient blockers, dependable runners, blitzers and aggressive Slayers in a new plastic set. A position-by-position playbook recommends grinding cage play and warns that limited speed and isolated Slayers remain real weaknesses.
An underground-themed double-sided pitch supplies distinct homes for Skaven and Dwarf teams, including a new weather table. A separate Special Play pack offers magical memorabilia that grants individual benefits with possible accompanying costs.
Dawn of War III’s returning Gabriel Angelos and allied Knights lead a column looking towards the next strategy game. Mobile Mordheim, naval adventures in Man O’ War: Corsair, a substantially adapted PC Space Wolf and further Blood Bowl teams extend the available settings and styles of play.
James Swallow adapts the Knights Errant’s audio adventures into prose, following Nathaniel Garro’s secret service to Malcador. The preview presents battles fought outside public recognition as part of the wider Silent War.
Andy Clark’s first full novel sends inexperienced Knight pilots into a war against Word Bearers on Donatos. Military disaster forces them to learn quickly, while rival households and their feudal customs supply conflicts beyond the towering machines.
L J Goulding follows the Scythes of the Emperor after the destruction of Sotha. Retreat to Miral brings little relief as the Tyranids pursue the survivors towards their last defensible mesa.
Gav Thorpe’s audio drama takes Asurmen, Ulthwé warriors and a young Eldrad into the Eye of Terror. Their search for an oracle and a protective artefact turns the Crone Worlds into the setting for a dangerous attempt to secure the Craftworld’s future.
Earlier Realmgate Wars novels reach paperback, while a new Legends of the Age of Sigmar omnibus gathers Fyreslayer, Sylvaneth and Pestilens stories. The notice gives readers several starting points for exploring the setting through fiction.
Andy Clark discusses the excitement and difficulty of his first novel, including guidance from Nick Kyme. The interview emphasises Knight pilots outside their suits, rival feudal cultures, characters who changed during writing and the spectacular drop-fortress assault that opens Kingsblade.
Reader letters ask about battle-report presentation, representation in painted models and renewed involvement in the hobby. The magazine explains why narrative, tactical commentary and photo captions take different roles in different games, and celebrates an old reader’s continuing participation in Malaysia.
The answer explains that grey and red Word Bearers armour generally distinguish periods rather than specific unit types or armour marks. The Legion’s open betrayal and dedication to the Primordial Truth provide the key context for selecting a scheme.
An in-world glossary explains positions, match procedures, tournaments and the institutions behind Blood Bowl. Straightforward playing terms are mixed with unreliable history, regulated bribery and supporters’ slang, making the sporting language another expression of the setting’s satire.
The retrospective returns to 1993 and the arrival of second-edition Warhammer 40,000. Its painting guide, early Tycho battle, Blanche gallery and mail-order components recall a period whose colourful models and conversion possibilities left a long legacy.
Phil Kelly discusses the Ynnari as a desperate and divisive alternative to the Eldar’s predicted extinction. Yvraine’s many lives make her a suitable emissary, but her incomplete restoration of the old spirit cycle provokes fear and opposition; the story ultimately connects this internal upheaval to the need for human allies.
Paul Dainton describes the three campaign covers as a planned visual trilogy. Abaddon’s oppressive red, the Yncarne’s cold blue-grey and a promised golden image of hope use restrained palettes to express each volume’s emotional place in the larger story.
Jes Goodwin combines linked ideas of gender, spiritual role, beauty and terror in the Yncarne. Dave Thomas gives its psychic spiral a sharp spectral identity distinct from smoke, while Aidan Daly explains the turquoise and magenta-purple palette that draws the eye towards the entity.
Jes Goodwin and Neil Langdown blend gladiatorial catsuit, sumptuous gown, hidden blades and runic decoration into Yvraine’s aristocratic silhouette. Aidan Daly’s linked red and purple scheme connects her to the other characters, with pale features and carefully reproduced tattoos keeping attention on her face.
The Visarch’s armour deliberately unites Craftworld curves, Dark Eldar concavities, mask-like faces and Exodite fur. Ancient detail and numerous spirit stones suggest a lost common ancestry, while highly reflective red armour and linked spot colours distinguish him from an ordinary Craftworld warrior.
A short myth recounts Morai-Heg gaining the knowledge in her own blood through Khaine’s severing of her hand. The five blades forged from its fingers are linked to Yvraine’s belief that reuniting them can awaken Ynnead, with only three found at this stage of the story.
Matt Hutson completes the six-month challenge with a large, varied Sylvaneth force and further plans for a full Wargrove. Textured models let him explore drybrushing beyond his usual clean armies, and the final additions cover the remaining Hunter weapons, more infantry and another Ancient.
Andrew King’s blue Nurgle army ends with the Glottkin as its centrepiece and an enthusiasm for playing more games. Blue armour connects mortal Blightkings to the Daemons while preserving human flesh, and the interview considers deadlines, new techniques and the satisfaction of a coherent collection.
James Karch reflects on changing direction from conventional undead towards Flesh-eaters and on taking breaks when enthusiasm faltered. Mannfred remains the inspiration, a final unit of Blood Knights returns to his original vampire idea, and the varied force gives him several future projects.
Phil Cowey discovers that painting a whole army differs from adding individual favourite models. Revising his palette and learning batch methods help him finish a mixed Destruction force, with blue tribal marks and generous blood effects linking new Savage Orruks to the armoured Ironjawz.
The four complete collections meet in a card-ordered Triumph & Treachery battle for board tiles. Phil’s assault becomes trapped among hostile Wyldwoods while the other armies trade monsters and heroes; James holds back his Flayers until their final attack steals a tile from Matt, giving Death four tiles and victory over Order’s three.
The background traces the broken reincarnation cycle, Eldrad’s interrupted ritual and Yvraine’s transformation into an emissary of death. The Visarch’s former identity and the Cronesword myths add personal and religious dimensions, while shared souls explain both the Ynnari’s new power and the suspicion that follows their destructive hope.
Ben Johnson’s Stormcast try to encircle Simon Grant’s Disciples of Tzeentch before enough units can escape. Mobile Vanguard formations and devastating heroes inflict heavy losses, but splitting Horrors and mutation-generated units create unexpected escape routes; delayed reinforcements and a failed last charge leave Tzeentch with the narrow mission victory.
Artists explain how scale, architecture and composition portray the Imperium’s grandeur and oppressive war. Terra, the Astronomican, hive worlds and a Chapter fortress range from unusually clean Heresy imagery to Blanche’s ancient, ritualised spaces, with tiny figures and ships making immense constructions legible.
James Karch explains how planning, a consistent recorded palette and alternating building with painting produced an Ironjawz army in five weeks. Large units come early, favourite characters become rewards and drying time is used for other tasks; a full scheme and project order make the discussion concrete while allowing flexible deadlines.
James Gallagher separates the body from the psychic storm and works from glowing energy through wraithbone to fine detail. A bright starting colour, translucent shades and repeated light drybrushes create the vortex, while layered purple, pale hair, gold and blue spirit stones distinguish the entity within it.
Tom Moore begins the open-posed Kairos with blue spray and paints large drybrushed areas before intricate details. Numerous sequences distinguish blue and pale skin, golden feet, pink-tipped feathers, gems and magical equipment, with stippling joining the wing colours and fine brown writing enriching the book.
Natalie Slinn paints the Disc as three differently sprayed components, separating wet Daemon flesh, shining metal and pale magic. Cleaning the contact areas before final assembly preserves strong joins, and the rider’s separate recipe is explicitly referred to an earlier downloadable guide.
The blue Daemon receives layered cool skin, a purple-pink tongue, bone teeth and two metallic finishes. A very small yellow eye dot supplies a contrasting focal point without requiring a complicated lens effect.
The flame recipe reverses familiar highlighting logic: pale recesses represent the hottest parts and darker drybrushing describes cooler outer flames. Green eyes and dark teeth retain readable faces within the small fiery creatures.
Natalie Slinn divides rider and Gryph-charger to take advantage of different spray foundations and accessible surfaces. Complete recipes distinguish armour, cloth, pelt, feathers, compass and the creature’s skin, with careful layering preserving dark recesses and an alternative drybrushed gold method offering a faster army finish.
The sidebar explains a pigment-free medium’s uses in translucent colour mixtures, glazes and sealing transfers. It also describes adding a little to paint that has begun drying, connecting an easily overlooked bottle to several practical painting problems.
Michael Wieske turns an ordinary Imperial container into a covert vehicle for spreading a Genestealer infestation. Restrained cult symbols, a hidden creature and a Hybrid opening the doors make a narrative terrain piece, with separate sections and dry-fitting preserving painting access.
Dan Harden makes an industrial Iron Warriors container with hazard markings and brown weathering. Grime along its lower edge grounds the piece in a used military environment.
Erik Niemz layers dusty drybrushes over brown to tie a battered container to his desert battlefield. Corrosion and stippled orange add rust without abandoning the muted overall finish.
A mostly grey container gains an Ultramarine connection through a single blue stripe and transfer. Thin brown recesses and a repeated grey drybrush weather the result while keeping the faction reference understated.
Red spray, Mechanicus transfers and a recess wash establish a recognisably Martian container. A broad red drybrush completes a quick scheme suited to the faction’s army.
The container borrows the Cadian army’s green livery and military markings. Bright green drybrushing and a controlled brown wash provide wear and definition with very few stages.
Dave Cross uses an Armoured Container and its cargo as a base over which an Onager Dunecrawler climbs. The example encourages reusing terrain parts for larger models’ bases and combining them with smaller basing details to strengthen a miniature’s setting.
Dave Cross adds skulls and a Coven Throne cauldron to a dark wood. White bone and vivid turquoise break the gloomy surroundings and turn the clearing into an explicitly necromantic location.
Gareth Williams contrasts pale bark and red-brown foliage with glossy black rocks. A cut-down tree suggests nearby settlement or past fighting, adding a small story to the colour experiment.
John Manders chooses lively foliage and additional low vegetation suitable for woodland aelves or jungle fighters. Simple washes and drybrushing keep the elaborate-looking grove practical to finish.
James Littler combines trees with Shattered Dominion detail parts. The resulting scene could show architecture engulfed by vegetation or damage from a long-ago magical explosion.
Ray Dranfield’s pale trees, grey stone and parched grass suggest an inhospitable savannah or blighted region. The example shows how a familiar woodland kit can support Death or Chaos through setting and colour rather than extensive conversion.
Roger Axelsson explains choosing an Astral Templars scheme and modifying the rider to avoid merely recolouring Vandus. Turquoise scales, warm ground and a star-patterned cloak support the purple armour, while planning subassemblies and painting order helps maintain a consistent competition finish.
Further winners explore a moonlit Crypt Horror, a lush Treelord, individually characterised Brutes and weathered human soldiers. The judges emphasise consistency across units and fresh interpretations that still communicate the subject’s identity, with a group of Chaos champions illustrating distinct materials and patron colours.
A new hero card makes the Disc-mounted Shaman a selectable adventurer. Flight through occupied spaces, a moving blade attack and a mutation spell give him different tactical options, while spell kills earn additional renown.
A three-model exotic encounter adds fast flying spearmen to Silver Tower. Their Discs strike heroes they pass over, injured survivors retaliate more accurately and a behaviour table ranges from charges to stunning revelations.
The Skyfires bring fate-guided ranged attacks to a three-model encounter. Flight and passing Disc attacks combine with behaviour that can favour retreating volleys, swooping shots or sudden close combat.
Lost Patrol gains sniper rifles, a missile launcher and a selectable difficulty system based on useful Scout assets. Scanners, beacons and combat advantages change the prospects of escape, while a Genestealer ambush rule retains the danger of moving away from the jungle paths.
Crystal-like organic walls grant cover but threaten any model moving nearby. Their particularly sharp shards resolve dangerous-terrain wounds with stronger armour penetration, making the shelter a hazardous choice.
Ancient overgrown ruins provide cover and additional Warp Charge to nearby psykers. With Empyric Storms in use, a psyker can also attempt to trigger another event, turning the site into an active amplifier of the campaign’s supernatural disruption.
Dense predatory growth impedes movement and makes dangerous-terrain tests more punishing. Associated Grappleweeds actively move towards visible living prey and strike nearby units with poisonous attacks.
The three individual scenery datasheets can form a combined forest. The grouped terrain increases cover while worsening dangerous-terrain tests, strengthening the trade-off between protection and environmental harm.
Four armies deploy into separate territories and compete for eight board sections, controlled by the total Wounds characteristics present. Variable game length, optional reinforcements and a general’s location as a tie-breaker encourage holding ground while still allowing the free-for-all to produce a sudden change of leader.
Christopher Stahl assembles a flamboyant captain from several Marine kits and Heresy components, imagining inherited armour cherished by the Chapter. Layered red, restrained brown shadows and a final red glaze reproduce the army’s rich colour.
A converted female Farseer reflects Iybraesil’s matriarchal background through a Sorceress head and carefully inserted Wych torso. Turquoise, navy and bone unite the army, while red-and-white lightning transforms the spear and transfers preserve painting time.
The officer gives Christopher a chance to test subdued colours and weathering against his usual brighter style. Archaic uniform, crude bionics and Imperial symbols make the model’s gothic character the focus, with a bright eye drawing attention to the face.
Christopher’s favourite Dreadnought combines clean black highlights with sponged metallic damage. Red saltires and gold details link the grim death’s-head machine to the rest of his Blood Angels while acknowledging the violence its maddened occupant inflicts.
Midnight-purple armour, selected brass details, topknots and impaled skulls distinguish the elite Last Hatred warriors. Christopher describes the layered purple recipe and the blasters that reinforce their battlefield role.
Christopher reverses his army’s turquoise-and-navy balance to preserve an Aspect identity while linking it to the warhost. Bright plumes, bone weapons and common black faceplates keep the dark squad colourful and coherent.
Tigurius wears a darker blue than ordinary Ultramarines, with the Chapter colour retained on shoulder and banner. Different highlight widths distinguish cloth from armour, and personal heraldry requires the freehand work Christopher would otherwise prefer to replace with transfers.
Brilliant orange armour receives local washes and pale orange edge highlights rather than a contrasting helmet. Turquoise straps link the Exarch to Iybraesil, while a muted bone weapon and still-hot metal beneath the foot complete the presentation.
Aidan Daly builds an alternating pattern of light and shadow on the Visarch’s sword using feathered translucent mixtures. Repeated passes deepen the darks and brighten the lights, a green glaze restores saturation, and crisp edges and consistent tiny chips finally define the solid blade within the reflective effect.
Aidan explains why light entering a translucent gem makes the lower portion bright, reversing an opaque surface’s usual highlights. Feathered green crescents, increasingly yellow highlights and two small white light points give the spirit stone depth and a polished curved shape.
Mikael Silvanto distils the Alpha Legion into a small cell of cloaked human agents, a heretek and a towering Legionary. A restricted moonlit palette carries through flesh and metal, while industrial bases, skulls and recurring symbols connect the characters to Terra and their hidden allegiance.
Johan Egerkrans explores the League of Black Ships through a sinister Inquisitor-Captain seeking a possible vessel for the Emperor’s rebirth. Void suits, dark nautical colours and shared Mechanicus parts link a crew of psyker-handlers, with a more relatable pilot and imposing Navigator offering contrasting views of its duties.
A longer reader gallery spans Eldar, Imperial heroes, Tyranids, Chaos and Silver Tower adventurers. The photography advice again explains neutral backgrounds, lighting, angles and focus so the variety of painted surfaces remains visible.
John Margiotta uses a black-and-white zenithal preparation beneath cool blue flesh. Repeated thin shades strengthen the recesses, pale layers restore the raised areas and a blue glaze unifies them; separately washed silver gives the weapons a readable metallic finish.
The staff report on an unusually busy gaming table and several developing projects. An Orc victory over the Nibblers, an Assassin arriving on the wrong flank and a Middle-earth doubles painting prize show the mixture of competitive mishaps and hobby progress behind the issue.
James Littler completes a Harbinger Chamber in four days by treating its metal as a batch project. Gold spray, a gloss shade, repeated metallic drybrushing and a separate weapon wash establish the armour before other colours and bases, leaving further refinement available later.
Matt and Dan discuss the challenge of making ambition and change visible on Tzeentch’s models and the growing coherence of the Stormcast. Their response to the Ynnari shifts as they read the background, showing how design explanations can turn a puzzling new miniature into inspiration for a project.
Ben finishes the long-running gunship project that links brown Guard and black-and-blue Marines through orange accents. Brown spray and drybrushed highlights establish the hull, fine chips expose imagined metal beneath the orange and a snowy base completes the heavily personalised aircraft.