WHITE DWARF · MARCH 2021
Exorcists lore and rules, Biel-Tan painting inspiration, automated ghoul hordes and a linked war of flesh and bone.
COVER TO COVER
In printed page order
A long-term reader marks twenty-five years of hobby memories, while another family combines Space Marines with astronomical photographs. The replies discuss Deathwatch members keeping the Blood Angels’ secrets, and reader conversions show how a spider-like industrial tank and a Primaris Gabriel Seth can emerge from existing kits.
Antonio Procino converts an Intercessor into Gabriel Seth with a Dark Vengeance head and a reconstructed two-part chainsword. The result brings the Flesh Tearers’ imposing Chapter Master into Primaris proportions while retaining his characteristic oversized weapon and aggressive identity.
Adam Gladzinski explains the metallic finishes and vivid green energy of his Necron collection. Controlled glazes build blade transitions, contrasting highlights separate dark machinery from brass and silver, and Tesseract Glow provides a quick luminous effect around power sources and small orbs.
Phil Kelly uses the Space Wolves to chart how a faction develops across successive editions, model ranges and fiction. Early codex foundations grow through distinctive characters, Black Library stories and major campaigns, with continuity and new ideas combining to keep the Chapter recognisable over decades.
The four far-future warlords return with their first developed forces and early Crusade experiences. Battles have already exposed weaknesses as well as memorable successes, illustrating how a collection’s planned identity can change once named units and heroes actually take to the tabletop.
Joel Martin expands his green-armoured force with bionically enhanced infantry, a Captain and a Dreadnought. Recipes establish bright armour without a difficult black foundation, while Crusade upgrades and plans for Vanguard support show how battlefield needs are shaping the next stage of his collection.
Jonathan Stapleton gives his first Necron units names and a developing Crusade record while refining a straightforward metallic-and-teal paint method. Silver foundations, blackened machinery and luminous details keep a growing Indomitus collection coherent, with the remaining boxed-set units offering a clear route for expansion.
Drew Palies introduces Canoness Eleanor’s growing crusading force and the personalities behind its units. Silver spray provides the army’s main armour colour, with extra attention reserved for characters, flames and shrine details; dirty bases and weathering keep the Sisters’ long campaign visible across the collection.
Lydia Grant completes almost a hundred grots and discovers that their low morale is as significant as their numbers. Pale skin and varied neutral clothing give the mob unity without identical models, while a converted leader and scrap-filled support units set up the arrival of heavier Ork reinforcements.
The invasion spreads into systems once considered safe, where refugees, political tensions and unusual geography create new vulnerabilities. Accounts of the Gildras, Rhodior and Eladagh systems show how Alpha Legion infiltration, Word Bearer raids and the neverdead plague undermine Imperial defences away from the main battlefront.
Word Bearer bikers attack a desert convoy to draw Imperial defenders out of their fort. Their confidence in a swift slaughter is tested by disciplined resistance and an unexpectedly empty stronghold, making the hostile world itself a meaningful obstacle to the raiders’ plans.
New theatres represent Dentherya’s sandstorms, asteroid battles influenced by strange gravity and refugee worlds haunted by the rising dead. Associated actions, environmental effects and battle rewards encourage armies to react to the landscape and the spread of plague rather than treating every outlying engagement alike.
James Ashbey and Elliot Hamer reveal the Exorcists’ dangerous initiation through controlled daemonic possession and exorcism. Their secretive cults, home world Banish and imprisoned failures explain both the Chapter’s resilience and the catastrophic consequences that would follow if outsiders discovered the full truth.
Rules for the Imperial Fists successor Chapter provide relics, Warlord traits and stratagems suited to daemon hunters hardened by forbidden rituals. Psychic protection and specialist offensive benefits help represent the Exorcists’ unusual background while using the parent Space Marine and Imperial Fists frameworks.
Koen Cambré’s gritty Absolvutorem Crusade leads a gallery of Exorcists painted by staff and readers. Individual characters, repurposed weapons, daemonic trophies and differing red recipes demonstrate how the same Chapter can support both polished studio-style forces and darker, heavily weathered collections.
Tom Moore builds deep crimson armour over black, deliberately varying the highlights on cloth, weapon casings and armour to distinguish their materials. The tutorial adds luminous lenses and a simple Chapter badge made by extending a skull transfer with painted horns.
Grey Seer and Flesh Tearers Red create a cool crimson foundation with most shading already established. Controlled application and a final bright edge highlight finish the armour, while matching recipes for gold, parchment and black details bring the model to the same character as the classic version.
Robin Cruddace separates physical visibility from the effects of Obscuring and Dense Cover using worked battlefield diagrams. He explains how infantry, large models and indirect-fire weapons interact with these traits, helping players identify why an apparently visible target may still be protected or impossible to select.
The opening War Hosts feature introduces Biel-Tan’s bitter determination to restore the Aeldari empire and the rapid assaults of its Swordwind. Its green-and-white heraldry, Aspect Warriors and damaged but defiant identity provide a foundation for themed collections and personal characters.
Drew Palies demonstrates white Guardian armour with green helmets, red spirit stones and restrained black weapons. An opaque grey mixture makes the white base manageable, while the guide stresses that most small armour blisters are part of the suit rather than gemstones.
A Falcon hull demonstrates the thorny vine motif associated with Biel-Tan. Thin planning lines are gradually thickened, triangular thorns are filled in and selective grey highlights imply light and depth, with rotating the model helping preserve control throughout the freehand process.
Converted seers, a dynamically posed Autarch and unusual wraith constructs demonstrate fresh interpretations of Biel-Tan. The accompanying notes explain repositioning limbs, borrowing parts from other aelven kits and experimenting with red underlayers, textured green armour and jungle settings while retaining the craftworld’s identity.
Martin Morrin revisits an army inspired by White Dwarf 171, expanding older Biel-Tan models into a substantial modern force. Pristine green and white warriors stand against battered urban bases, with cork rubble and restrained spot colours tying the enlarged collection together.
Sam Pearson introduces a game-controlled ghoul horde that can interrupt battles between two other armies. The Temple of the Myrmidesh and Hallowed Ground scenarios use behaviour tables, delusions and objective interaction to make the cannibals an unpredictable third threat rather than a conventional allied force.
Keiser Ven Brecht escapes captivity carrying news of Morathi’s betrayal, only to become prey in Ulgu. Corsair pursuers, unseen rescuers and exhaustion leave the Lord-Veritant unsure whom to trust as he struggles to deliver his warning to other Stormcast.
Louis Aguilar and Sam Pearson play three linked engagements following Xaramos’ betrayal of Varshorn. The Bonereapers prevail in the rearguard and relief battles before a protracted final clash, where the custom heroes and a decisive Corpsemare Stampede demonstrate how the Anvil of Death shapes a memorable campaign.
Jervis Johnson proposes a solo narrative method based on generals’ personalities, broad plans and simple questions resolved by dice. Rather than prescribing every possible move, the approach lets the player interpret behaviour consistently and discover a campaign story while controlling both armies.
Graham McNeill discusses returning to Uriel Ventris and the emotional stakes of The Swords of Calth. A retrospective of novel covers leads into Olivier Bouchet’s account of sculpting the new miniature, preserving familiar weapons and honours while presenting the captain as a Primaris Marine.
Dave Sanders balances Klaq-Trok’s combat role with the mobile skinks and Kixi-Taka’s support abilities. The warband must combine attacks with holding three objectives to inspire, so pushes, protection and careful positioning are as important as selecting upgrades for its strongest fighter.
Khagra’s Ravagers deny objectives through desecration, using durable warriors and Zarshia’s magic to support their advance. Sanders presents both a board-control approach and a more direct aggressive plan, with movement tricks and damage improvements helping the warband reach and clear the crucial hexes.
Two scenarios celebrate the destructive scale of the Warmaster Titan. The Red Planet Aflame pits opposing heavy engines against each other, while the Siege of Travo’anor asks smaller forces to confront the enormous loyalist machines in a more asymmetric battle around an industrial world.
Engineer Rikkorn Mikazrin travels to a Hyshian craft fair hoping his telescope will honour generations of family work. An encounter with the wandering Gormdal challenges his pride and fear of alteration, forcing him to reconsider whether loyalty to inherited craftsmanship means preserving every detail unchanged.
Studio projects range from Lumineth centrepieces to Iron Warriors and a fully equipped Warmaster Titan of Legio Ignatum. Notes on metallic shading, interchangeable weapons and keeping difficult details in sub-assemblies explain how the painters manage ambitious projects while maintaining consistency with their existing armies.