WHITE DWARF · APRIL 2021
Metalica hobby inspiration, Faith under Fire dioramas, Tepok’s Eye campaign and a non-metallic-metal masterclass.
COVER TO COVER
In printed page order
Readers discuss Titanicus battle reports, the welcoming atmosphere of local stores and ways to personalise infantry. Painting and conversion examples range from a dusty-blue Aventis Firestrike to a colourful Tyranid Hive Tyrant, while Grombrindal considers the oldest beings still active in the Mortal Realms.
Andreas Packroff combines dusty blue Stormcast armour with complementary yellow and purple accents. His Tauralon’s skin begins with the same blue foundation as the rider, using controlled shading and gradually paler mixtures to make a coherent centrepiece without sacrificing the different materials.
Chris Peach revisits the Silver Maiden Knight’s paint scheme in response to a reader request. The answer supplies the named colours behind the pale metallic-looking armour and its markings, giving an established Freeblade identity a practical painting reference rather than relying only on photographs.
Javier reworks a Hive Tyrant’s silhouette by combining its talons with Broodlord claws and rebuilding the carapace. Stippled and mottled flesh, carefully placed washes and a layered scenic base reinforce the creature’s vivid alien character without requiring an airbrush.
Phil Kelly explains how familiar character archetypes provide useful foundations for Warhammer personalities. Examples show that a recognisable role becomes distinctive through unexpected details, conflicting motives or transformation over time, giving hobbyists a method for developing memorable leaders of their own.
Metalica’s polluted industrial world and uncompromising devotion to the Machine God shape its white-robed legions. Background, heraldry and modelling suggestions establish a force of martial Skitarii and strange priestly creations whose pristine symbols contrast with the forge world’s brutal physical environment.
Recipes for a Skitarii Ranger and Kataphron Breacher separate off-white cloth from warmer cream armour. Red panels, pale blue power sources and weathered metal provide contrast, with notes on oil stains and sponge chipping helping the machines look used while preserving the forge world’s distinctive livery.
A gallery explores Metalica through lancers, altered Tech-Priests, Secutarii and weathered war machines. Contributors describe warm whites, red airbrushed armour, electric weapons and oil effects, while a grot-crewed looted Skorpius demonstrates that the same kits can inspire an entirely different army’s inventions.
Death Guard and Thousand Sons invade an industrial cluster whose worlds are valuable to both the Imperium and rival Chaos powers. Accounts of polluted swamps, gemstone forests and stubborn local defences show how the invaders exploit resources while also clashing over the meaning and ownership of their conquests.
Several viewpoints capture the collapse of resistance on flood-stricken Septios: a tank loader trapped in mud, trench soldiers facing monstrous attackers and a frightened survivor steadied by faith. Their brief struggles make the campaign’s rising waters and contagious despair immediate, while leaving room for small acts of courage.
New theatres turn the Tri-forge Cluster’s distorted landscapes into battlefield mechanics. Null nodes and reflections alter reality, industrial fires and infrastructure create exploitable hazards, and a failing dam threatens to flood the battlefield; Crusade relics preserve some of these worlds’ unusual powers as campaign rewards.
Robin Cruddace introduces a hobby bingo challenge to restore direction and shared enthusiasm when regular gaming is difficult. Members of the development team describe their projects and varied goals, showing how manageable prompts can motivate finishing units, revisiting abandoned collections and writing background alongside painting.
Guido Günther places a fallen Sister beneath a leaping, heavily mutated Pink Horror. Vivid figures stand against subdued gothic ruins, while a carefully patterned tile floor and progressive pink highlights guide the viewer through the sudden ambush.
Jonathan De Vos presents Sisters defending ruined ground from a press of Poxwalkers. Contrasting skin tones, cold shadows and concentrated highlights help the figures remain legible, with slime, blood and weathering tying the crowded last-stand composition to its devastated setting.
Ben Gowing interprets the challenge literally by placing a Battle Sister under automatic gunfire. Bullet impacts, expressive faces and carefully considered sunlight give the scene its action, while coloured leaves and environmental shadows connect the miniature to the surrounding architecture.
Angelo Di Chello recreates the Sisters’ doomed stand at Sanctuary 101 using the new models without substantial conversion. Different temperatures of black distinguish armour, leather and robes, while a raised sacred icon establishes a triangular composition around the remaining defenders.
Sebastian Kohl builds a rescue scene around a fallen Battle Sister who remains a luminous focus despite being unconscious. Cool reflective armour and red robes contrast with the vegetation and nearby searchers, giving the viewer a clear story through colour and placement.
Ayden Ferrante depicts Alicia Dominica confronting Goge Vandire at the end of his reign. Fallen bodyguards, an ornate marble floor and the staging of the final duel communicate a specific historical moment, with quieter supporting colours ensuring the central confrontation remains dominant.
Be’lakor exploits a brief weakness in the Seraphon’s prophetic orrery by coercing rival greater daemons into an assault. Kazarkos’ rage and F’tanax’s ambition undermine cooperation even as the defenders fight desperately, allowing the Dark Master’s wider plan to advance through the destruction of the Eye.
Four linked battleplans recreate the daemon assault from dense jungle ambushes to a climb towards the summit and the final descent into chaos. Earlier results change later encounters, while both players alternate between Seraphon and rival daemon contingents before the conflict becomes a struggle among former allies.
Destiny-point options extend custom hero creation to mortal and daemonic servants of Khorne and Tzeentch. Archetypes, weapons, mounts and divine gifts build tailored champions, with Kazarkos and F’tanax demonstrating how the system translates the accompanying story’s antagonists into playable profiles.
The four Mortal Realms warlords return with substantial first contingents and early games. New units test their chosen themes in practice, from the Lumineth’s precise spear formations to Slaanesh’s enthusiastic charges, while the challenge encourages readers to follow comparable projects of their own.
Martyn Lyon assembles Wardens and a Cathallar as the disciplined core of his Ymetrican army. A larger spear unit preserves its magical offensive threat after casualties, while separate shields and swords make painting easier and luminous mountain bases link the contingent to its home.
Miyuki Foulkes finishes the first Warriors and Knights of a Chaos force divided among rival brothers. Drybrushed highlights toned down with Contrast simplify black armour, while the background allows future units to wear different metallic liveries without losing their place in the same developing army.
Rich Packer recruits scythe-bearing aelves and characterful sorcerers into the Order of Morrda. Traditional layering, consistent brown shading and final glazes unite purple cloth, magical effects and pale details, while conversions continue to express the army’s secretive background.
Calum McPherson presents Syll’Esske, Daemonettes and Fiends as the first half of a planned mixed Slaanesh host. Airbrushed blue skin gives the daemons smooth tonal transitions, while brush-painted mortal flesh and carefully selected accent colours keep the centrepiece and its followers visually distinct.
Dave Sanders explains the routes into Underworlds through introductory games, the Starter Set and Direchasm. He distinguishes a simple first experience from the additional systems and deck-building possibilities offered by the main seasonal box and Essential Cards pack, helping new players expand at a comfortable pace.
A steady advance and reliable ranged attacks make the Storm of Celestus an objective-focused warband. Sanders explains how its Castigators, Gryph-hound, pushes and Guard tokens cooperate, with careful deployment preserving firing opportunities while moving the fighters onto scoring positions.
Drepur’s ghosts favour relentless aggression, with the Patrician’s support helping the armed spirits reach their victims. Damage upgrades and appropriate objectives reward a direct advance, while protecting the supporting fighter and managing enemy scoring provide more subtle choices beneath the apparent simplicity.
Borja Garcia uses Lion El’Jonson to explain believable metal painted entirely with matt colours. A fixed light source and strong tonal contrast establish gold and silver reflections, then thin glazes add environmental colour; examples of Magnus and Sanguinius show how the same principles adapt to very different scenes.
Jason Lee presents his growing Fire Masters and the Knights of House Mordred, inspired by the traitor engines of Calth. Flame markings, personal heraldry and wooded scenic bases distinguish the individual machines while keeping a large collection of Titans recognisably part of one aggressive legion.
Owen Patten builds the True Messengers around established Calth battlegroups and named engines. Blue-and-white armour, carefully recorded heraldry and shattered urban bases connect the models to the legion’s fictional history, with House Vornherr Knights supplying a complementary force at a smaller scale.
Three scenarios put normally peripheral specialists at the centre of gang life. Rogue Docs retrieve wounded fighters in Mercy Mission, a Dome Runner leads a dangerous loot hunt in Dome Rush and an Ammo-jack oversees competitive shooting in Target Practise, each with associated experience and campaign rewards.
The illustrated bestiary is examined as an in-universe work assembled by the opinionated Rogue Trader Janus Draik. Its creators explain how portraits, sketches and conflicting accounts present familiar and obscure aliens through Imperial prejudice, making the narrator’s uncertainty part of the book’s appeal.
Rob Alderman turns Tom, Bert and William into a scenic group of weathered stone statues. Removed details, rough texture, cracking medium and layered greys establish petrified skin, while moss, fallen leaves and softened base edges integrate the trolls with the surrounding woodland.
A Kharadron fleet fleeing Ulgu carries a dangerous prize that attracts the Shadow Queen’s attention. Brynt’s damaged gunhauler and its mysterious old passenger become central to the escape, with the demand to honour a bargain challenging the admiral’s narrow pursuit of profit.
Studio updates include Sons of Medusa, spectral Nighthaunt and a striking Middle-earth backlog project. Painters describe masking vehicle markings, creating ethereal green effects and maintaining red accents across a large collection, while the photographers take advantage of available tables for a game.