WHITE DWARF · JULY 2018
Nighthaunt design, battle-damage masterclass, efficient army painting and the four warlords’ magical finale.
COVER TO COVER
In printed page order
The next wave of Stormcast and Nighthaunt miniatures expands the Soul Wars armies with new leaders, units and endless spells. Dark Elf footballers and Forge World engines join the month’s news, while licensed games and Black Library releases offer other ways to explore the same settings.
Dark Elf coaches can introduce a hatching draconic egg or a ball made from Cold One hide. Random movement, a dangerous touchdown and numb fingers make the variants troublesome for either team, with a possible sending-off adding a cost to their once-per-match use.
A selection of David Annandale’s stories ranges from Primarchs and doomed warriors to enormous engines of destruction. The guide highlights the author’s interest in horror and human responses to overwhelming powers, helping readers choose a starting point across several different series.
Letters discuss favourite magazine eras, painted projects and unusual modelling interests, including maritime subjects and Glazer’s Creek. Practical replies and reader pictures show how collectors adapt the published material to their own circumstances, with painting advice woven into the conversation.
The retrospective revisits an earlier magazine era through its army showcases, painting explanations and conversations with designers. Remembered Ultramarines and a reminder that Marines can be drybrushed connect the old issue’s practical advice with current discussions about achievable army painting.
The guide introduces the armies of Mars through their infantry, mechanical support and powerful characters. Starting collections and suggestions for expansion explain how specialised Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus elements can combine into a force that remains recognisably devoted to the Omnissiah.
Brian Nelson and Steve Buddle describe the challenge of suggesting bodies and motion with as little solid plastic as possible. Hollow robes, chained silhouettes and floating forms unite the Nighthaunt range, while bridal imagery, imprisoned souls and the flying Black Coach give its leaders and units distinct histories.
Max Faleij builds convincing chips from small light scratches and darker marks offset above them. Black and white armour require different treatment because their available contrasts differ, while careful placement, scale and selective rust keep the damage consistent with the material and the model’s story.
A Stormfiend’s dark armour gains visible damage through several increasingly fine grey highlights. Brown rust glazes around rivets and panel lines distinguish the surface without turning it grey, while a painted Skaven symbol receives its own tiny scratches to preserve the illusion of layered materials.
A T’au armour plate receives warm recessed shading, controlled brown chips and subtle gradients instead of an ordinary white edge highlight. Leaving selected panels and mechanical areas cleaner makes the materials feel different, concentrating the wear where a working battlesuit would naturally suffer it.
Duncan Rhodes’s House Griffith and James Karch’s House Taranis fight over a vital resupply drop. Newly released Dominus Knights and deadly close-combat specialists trade destructive blows, but the Taranis warlord’s extraordinary tally of five Knight kills helps his house secure a battered victory.
A lone Dryad protects the final living sprout in a forest devastated by a Megaboss. Wire and putty alter the figures’ poses, while paper leaves and oil-painted grime establish the contrast between fragile surviving life and the destructive weight of the intruder.
A Vanguard-Hunter and faithful hound are ambushed by skeletons in a scene about the exhausting struggle against death. Carefully tested positions keep each combatant visible, with the hound’s defence and raised shields creating linked actions throughout the compact display.
The Harbinger’s passing makes the surrounding world rot, turning scenery into evidence of his power. Sickly greens link the steed and corrupt details, while a newly growing eye and dying terrain make the influence of Nurgle visible beyond the main figure.
Max Faleij and Joe Tomaszewski explain their honourable mentions before revealing the winning display. Their comments weigh technical painting alongside readable storytelling and the intelligent use of a restricted base, showing why a strong competition piece needs its elements to work together.
A Necromancer animates an enormous but deliberately fragile undead Gargant through swirling spirits. Bright clothing suggests recent death, while the caster’s pale face and turquoise collar preserve him as the focal point; the judges praise how every element leads naturally through the scene.
Phil Moss considers how individual faces and gestures make Warhammer’s immense conflicts emotionally understandable. Familiar soldiers, corrupted humans and monstrous beings express the conditions of their worlds, culminating in John Wigley’s Mordheim juggler, whose grim acceptance reveals more than an action scene alone could convey.
Studio painter Paul Norton explains how efficient methods make complete armies practical without abandoning impressive focal details. His Iron Ravens and camouflaged tank company reserve the most precise work for faces, markings and characters, allowing broad surfaces to be completed through sprays, washes, drybrushing and stippling.
Silver armour needs little beyond its metallic foundation and a mixed matt-and-gloss wash, leaving time for blue panels, red details and gold trim. Neat eyes, helmet stripes and characters then provide the visual polish, with repeated heraldry and transfers completing the custom Chapter’s identity.
Masked tan and green areas are washed, drybrushed and stippled before chips and bare metal are added. Clean squadron markings, lenses and carefully painted crew draw attention away from deliberately rough camouflage, giving a substantial armoured company both an achievable method and distinctive command vehicles.
Rik Turner’s enormous Chaos collection grows through persistent painting rather than exceptional speed. Mortal formations, daemons devoted to different gods and Legion of Azgorh fire support preserve a broad range of gaming choices, while conversions and recurring colours link the army’s diverse contingents.
The six-month collecting challenge concludes with army retrospectives and an ambitious four-player game. Endless spells, secret objectives and playful awards turn the finale into a celebration of each collector’s work while introducing fresh tactical uncertainty to their already familiar rivalries.
Nick reflects on the completed ogor host and adds an endless spell before the final game. His favourite Frostlord anchors an army built for devastating charges, with its command support and deployment choices making the collection’s simple aggressive plan more reliable.
Five endless spells give Jes a welcome break from repeated green daemons. His army list and reminders for ability timing explain how the three Great Unclean Ones and supporting characters work together, translating months of painting into an organised plan for the coming battle.
Andy completes five endless spells and considers how his aelves have changed his usual approach to battle. Morathi’s casting and a predictable pendulum support his plans, while the fragile infantry rely on the Cauldron and other overlapping benefits to deliver their damage.
Anthony adds five endless spells, including a prized Purple Sun, and looks back on an extensive painting campaign. Large undead units and several commanding figures now form a versatile army, with the prospect of further Mortarchs and a daemon-slaying game keeping his ambition alive.
Hobby awards become temporary battlefield benefits for the concluding game. Favourite heroes, well-painted regiments and other achievements earn unusual advantages, connecting the campaign’s collecting work directly to its final contest and inviting other groups to devise their own rewards.
A four-player battlefield awards points through kills and changing opportunities while allowing reserves to enter from the edges. Triumph and Treachery choices and predatory endless spells encourage negotiation, so promises and bribes can matter as much as movement or a successful attack.
The four completed armies clash amid uncontrolled endless spells, shifting alliances and secret objectives. Nick’s charging ogors and Andy’s murderous aelves trade heavy blows while Anthony’s undead struggle against Jes’s resilient daemons; Nurgle eventually wins with twenty-seven points after four hectic rounds.
A mother, baby and grandfather search for safety alongside two rescued brothers. The families wear different palettes, with faded yellow work clothing marking the civilians; careful component choices establish personal histories within a wasteland usually populated by armed raiders.
Ritual severing and replacement of limbs define a warband committed to mechanical augmentation. Cultists, beastmen and technological components combine into marksmen and close-combat fighters, with sculpted hats and vapour-feeding masks turning the conversions into a society with its own customs.
A mutant gang takes shape from heavily altered figures and an assortment of scavenged weapons. Washes and old inks over white establish much of the colour, while selective pale highlights and worn red cloth give the models a shared appearance without hiding their individual mutations.
New Nighthaunt enemies and playable Stormcast and spectral heroes expand the dungeon adventure. Floating foes ignore intervening obstacles and bring difficult attack behaviours, while hero cards give the Knight of Shrouds, Lord Executioner, Lord-Exorcist and Knight-Incantor distinctive actions and rewards.
A dismounted Vanguard warrior combines components from infantry and mounted kits to evoke a hunter of Ghur’s great beasts. A fanged tribal symbol, face tattoo and controlled battle damage connect his personal story with the wild identity of the Astral Templars.
A crusading Sequitor carries glowing script and equipment marked by long service in Ghyran. Plants, blood and drying mud establish his recent battles, with pale tabards and layered brown stains balancing the model’s religious imagery against practical wear.
Sword-armed Vindicators receive darker armour, limited gore and a warrior tattoo to emphasise aggression. A contrasting Knight Excelsior uses lightning and ash to express purifying zeal, demonstrating how restraint and carefully chosen effects can distinguish Stormhosts beyond their basic colours.
Several painters explore a heroic host worn down by repeated battle and reforging. Glowing runes, lightning, cracked leather and mud vary the materials, while celestial details in wings, gems and armour imply the growing presence of storm energy inside the warriors.
Skulls and altered equipment evoke Stormcasts reforged from ancient dead heroes. Small conversions to weapons and armour make the host’s sinister background visible, using a consistent theme rather than an unrelated collection of decorative additions.
The guide explains how undercoats, brush choices and successive painting stages work together. Definitions of core methods make the Nighthaunt recipes accessible, with a staged finish allowing hobbyists to begin gaming before returning to add finer highlights and details.
New spectral paints establish blue or green ectoplasm over pale foundations, supported by recipes for decayed cloth, rust and verdigris. Balefire, lanterns, candles, bone and gravestones receive additional treatments, while glazing and selective highlights keep the spirits translucent and their material equipment readable.
Readers share painted commanders, warbands and towering machines, including a Knight, Primarch and several characterful fantasy figures. Repeated photography advice explains how a clean background and suitable light help a varied gallery present the paintwork consistently.
Stephan Löppmann paints the three Glottkin separately to make the enormous model manageable. Familiar studio colours anchor the result while changed robes and bruised flesh express his own taste, with the seven-week project becoming an appropriately Nurgle-themed milestone.
The team discusses Nighthaunt designs, the finale’s hobby awards and continuing personal armies. Fresh Malign Portents heroes and a fiery spectral scheme show the variety of responses to the new models, while another aelf-versus-Kharadron clash adds a fresh grudge to the studio’s gaming history.