WHITE DWARF · MAY 2018
Idoneth design and painting, two large battle reports, Venator gangs and Duels of the Crystal Labyrinth.
COVER TO COVER
In printed page order
May’s releases bring the Idoneth Deepkin, Chaos Chosen footballers and technologically advanced Van Saar to the fore. News also introduces Gang War 3, forthcoming fantasy roleplaying and the month’s novels, showing how new miniatures connect with an expanding collection of games and stories.
Chaos coaches can replace an ordinary ball with a bound daemon or an Orb of Dark Majesty for a drive. Fear, involuntary passing and the Really Stupid skill make these optional balls disruptive for either side, while a risk of the kicker being sent off gives their use an immediate cost.
Andy Hoare explains an expanded Trading Post, industrial Brutes, exotic pets and campaigns guided by an arbitrator. Conversion opportunities and newly varied scenarios support an underhive that grows beyond familiar gang lists, giving players more ways to develop a shared story.
Guy Haley presents entry points into his fiction and discusses the appeal of different kinds of protagonists. The recommendations connect individual characters with larger conflicts, offering readers a route through novels and related stories rather than assuming they must begin with a complete series.
Reader correspondence shares miniature projects and questions about the worlds of Warhammer. The editorial responses connect unusual collecting interests with practical hobby advice, preserving the personal experiments and conversations surrounding the month’s larger army features.
A return to the October 2006 magazine revisits an earlier generation of releases, hobby features and studio projects. The retrospective places familiar armies and magazine conventions in their original setting, inviting readers to compare how the models and their presentation have developed.
The introduction explains how T’au infantry, battlesuits and supporting units complement one another. Collecting suggestions and a staff member’s enthusiasm for Crisis teams show how a small force can grow toward a chosen fighting style while preserving the faction’s reliance on coordinated specialised elements.
Ben Jefferson and Seb Perbet explain how the Idoneth’s soul curse and submerged society became a distinctive miniature range. Namarti, noble Akhelians and sea creatures form a visual wave across the army, while the ethersea allows fantastical underwater imagery without requiring literal water around every figure.
Martin Peterson develops natural-looking eel markings from animal references and the army’s palette. Smooth skin gradients precede an irregular pale pattern, with shading and highlights then applied across both; related fin colours and a contrasting metallic weapon keep the completed mount and rider visually connected.
Jason Lee’s Ryza army combines orange details, white armour and shared lava bases with the other forces in his Imperial collection. Batch painting, converted Knights and gloss varnish before recess washing keep the substantial force achievable while giving its machines a coherent industrial character.
Jason adapts available components to personalise the machinery of his army. Reposed joints and unexpected parts add individuality to large engines, while recognisable Imperial engineering keeps the conversions consistent with the force rather than obscuring the original silhouettes.
White plates, orange markings and metal receive their base colours before an airbrushed gloss coat and a shared Agrax Earthshade wash. Separate bright highlights, blue lenses and sponged brown chips restore definition, making this an efficient recipe for both infantry and vehicles.
Previous Golden Demon winners are invited to build a themed display on a sixty-millimetre round base. Choosing one of the four Grand Alliances gives the entrants a shared starting point while leaving considerable freedom for storytelling, composition and miniature selection.
A Chaos Lord considers the emissaries of rival gods while standing on books representing the other Grand Alliances. Small familiars supply the narrative: competing daemons argue for attention while a Skaven waits below, turning the arrangement of tiny figures into the central story.
A duel brings Khorne and Stormcast warriors together above a fiery setting. The models’ direction and the glow from lava and flame guide the viewer through their confrontation, using the base as a source of both atmosphere and reflected light.
A Tzaangor towers over a human Greatsword in a deliberately unequal encounter. Blue and purple connect the scene’s separate elements, while the soldier’s yellow provides a clear point of contrast and helps the viewer recognise the smaller figure despite the imposing enemy.
Classic dungeon adventurers return through conversions and a carefully balanced group composition. A Genestealer Magus supplies the basis for the wizard, while repeated primary colours and replacement details connect the individual figures into a recognisable party ready for an adventure.
A Wurrgog Prophet gathers magical energy in a display built around the sculpt’s dramatic pose. Warm colours and a zebra pelt help the figure remain readable above its busy setting, showing how a painter can reinforce the intended focal point without simplifying the whole scene.
Three younger winners contribute a Nurgling duel, a fiery Varanguard and a Necromancer raising the dead. Their explanations reveal different ways to establish a story through slime effects, angled mounting and height, with each scene directing attention toward its principal character.
An old River Troll becomes the centre of a watery scene with leaping fish and a carefully constructed pool. Glass and resin create depth around the miniature, while a scratch-built aquatic detail and the painter’s nostalgia give the project an identity beyond a conventional gaming base.
A Gaunt Summoner calls forth an Ogroid amid books and magical light. The eyeless head and purple glow establish an unsettling mood, with a familiar and layered chamber details supplying a sense of place while the principal figures carry the action.
Darren Latham’s Silver Skulls and James Karch’s Sons of Guilliman defend successive lines against Matt Holland and Dan Harden’s T’au in a four-player Blitz. Repeated battlesuit attacks and reinforcements threaten to overwhelm them, but the surviving Space Marines hold their ground and win fifteen points to nine.
Sam Pearson’s Idoneth attempt to steal souls from a Shyish siphon guarded by Martyn Lyon’s undead and Nagash. A protective Soulscryer ritual restricts enemy movement while costly fighting buys time for extraction; twenty-four rescued souls eventually give the Deepkin an extremely narrow victory.
Darren Latham considers how direction, silhouette and unobstructed focal areas make complex miniatures readable. His nomination of Seb Perbet’s Archaon shows those principles at an immense scale, with repeating diagonals and carefully directed heads and wings leading the eye back to the Everchosen.
The collectors approach their planned army goals through very different additions, from large monsters to repeated infantry units. Their progress demonstrates how personal rewards and practical deadlines interact, while the next month’s magical challenge gives everyone a new reason to keep painting.
Nick adds Mournfang riders and a fully equipped converted Icebrow Hunter, taking his collection beyond the two-thousand-point goal. Repeated army symbols and carefully chosen blue details connect the newcomers, while scavenged weapons make the Hunter visibly represent every option on its warscroll.
Andy gives in to the attraction of Morathi and additional serpentine warriors instead of completing his planned infantry. Different skin colours provide individual identities for magical creatures, with names and personalities turning those painting choices into part of the growing army’s story.
Rotigus joins Jes’s expanding host alongside more of Nurgle’s disturbing companions. Variation in details keeps the new figures distinct within the established army palette, while a long-awaited Gnarlmaw promises to turn his collection into a more complete Garden of Nurgle.
Zombies, a Mourngul and Vargheists take Anthony’s army beyond its initial target. The pale monster stands apart from the more rotten infantry, while a Coven Throne supplies a commanding figurehead and leaves space for future Mortarchs to change the army’s leadership.
Two rival Tzeentch sorcerers fight through lesser daemons on a dedicated board printed on the back cover. A shared structure of spell actions, attacks and a replenishing Destiny Pool makes resource management central: dice spent on ambitious magic are no longer available to dispel the enemy’s response.
Temporary coalitions of bounty hunters become a playable gang through selectable fighter profiles, ranked skill access and unusual equipment opportunities. House Legacies retain links to former gangs, while tailored campaign rewards and restrictions encourage a diverse collection of models that still operates as a coherent hunting band.
John Blanche’s wasteland imagery inspires rival warbands pursuing a roaming Promethium Tower. Alexander Lunde’s immense walking prize combines Knight, industrial and mausoleum components, establishing a setting in which salvaged machinery and scarce fuel determine both the models’ appearance and the coming conflict.
Alexander Lunde’s Vortrekkers seek the moving tower on behalf of a Rust Lord. A local guide, altered bodies and the enormous Rust Beetle combine medieval and industrial components, with recurring metal totems and worn surfaces making the collection feel like a travelling society of scavengers.
Alexander Winberg’s wasteland fighters wear scavenged protection assembled from diverse Imperial and Chaos kits. Their armoured leader Blue Ruin and treacherous guide Zogg introduce a network of competing motives, while damaged visors and improvised equipment establish the hazards of their sun-scorched environment.
The introductory guide explains undercoats, paint stages and the different jobs performed by brushes. Short definitions of washing, glazing, layering and drybrushing make the subsequent recipes easier to follow, while the staged approach lets painters decide how far to take a model before returning it to the gaming table.
Lightly thinned washes preserve the Thrall’s pale skin and control shadows across its blue clothing. Separate recipes cover silver, brass, leather and weapon handles, while a brightly coloured small sea creature introduces an effective contrast to the cooler main figure.
The large mount’s pale flesh blends into red scales rather than meeting them along a hard boundary. Detailed recipes extend through fins, armour, cloth, gems and weapons, with recess-only washes and progressively smaller highlights preserving the clean finish appropriate to an army centrepiece.
Stone ruins, carved inlays, coral and barnacles receive separate compact recipes suited to Idoneth bases. A grey undercoat and restrained drybrushing unify the masonry, while blue glazes and pale organic details establish the submerged setting without competing with the mounted character.
Chaos Warriors and Beastmen share red and black armour, gold fittings and repeated brown materials. Applying basecoats together before the common washes makes batch painting practical, with separate skin, horn and fur recipes preserving the two player types’ different textures.
Readers contribute character models, warbands and duels spanning several settings. Advice on backgrounds, daylight lighting and camera distance explains how to reveal the painted work clearly, while the varied submissions demonstrate the different kinds of projects that can succeed in the gallery.
Riyathe and Yahia Al-janabi collaborate on a Librarian for their shared Ultramarines army. Strong contrasts create reflective dark blue armour, a glazed yellow cloak restores saturation after shading, and blue light on the sword, hand and eyes ties the model’s psychic effects together.
Bas de Rue explains the strongly contrasted colours of his Stormcast collection. Warm gold gains depth from several recess washes, while blue-green armour and inhospitable scenic bases introduce a cooler counterpoint, showing how standard studio recipes can be developed into a recognisable personal style.
The studio tests the new T’au codex, adds specialised Crisis teams and debates favourite Idoneth creatures. Matt Holland’s finished Shadow Queen closes an ongoing painting project, connecting black-and-red scales and pale flesh to the visual identity of his other Realm of Shadow aelves.