WHITE DWARF · JUNE 2021
Charadon hobby finale, Tome Keepers Crusade rules, Excelsis campaign and the conclusion of Chronicles of the Wanderer.
COVER TO COVER
In printed page order
Readers request more Tome Keepers material, share painted miniatures and ask how Grombrindal would fare against Gotrek. Rochell Parente’s dramatic Celennar diorama and an underground scenic base demonstrate how a familiar centrepiece can be transformed through an unusual mood and setting.
Rochell Parente gives the Spirit of Hysh a dark palette rather than the expected bright presentation. A cavern full of skulls beneath the model adds a reminder of Lumineth tragedy, with plaster, rigid foam and resin water expanding the supplied base into a complete atmospheric diorama.
Phil Kelly continues the history of collective campaigns through Storm of Chaos, Medusa V and the Age of Sigmar’s first city-defining conflicts. Later events show a move towards decisions and developing narratives, with player participation helping establish both major victories and lasting disasters.
The Charadon war offers a wide range of army themes, from Metalica’s industrial holdings to polluted settlements and Fathom’s ocean platforms. The article encourages hobbyists to show where their warriors live and fight through uniforms, environmental wear and campaign-specific conversions.
Israel Gonzalez’s 2nd Plague Company army carries the Ferric Blight into battle through corroded surfaces and emphatic orange effects. Separate green and bone components support efficient batch painting, while subtle head, weapon and pose changes make use of the Death Guard kits’ many spare parts.
Campaign-inspired models include a fuel-trailer Leman Russ, spectral Rubric Marines, looting Freebooters and sea-green Sisters. The painters explain how a specific world or battle can supply a convincing palette and conversion plan, with corroded machines and maritime colours linking the models to the Charadon setting.
A Lord of Virulence demonstrates the Pallid Hand’s bone armour, green shoulder plates and tarnished bronze. Diluted shading preserves the light foundation, while yellow seepage, bruised flesh and luminous slime introduce small but effective contrasts without overwhelming the pale overall scheme.
A Plague Marine Icon Bearer combines near-black green armour with bronze trim reminiscent of older Death Guard schemes. The tutorial covers controlled flesh glazes, corroded icons, hazard stripes and pale weapons, then finishes both example models on a shared cracked red wasteland base.
This mission confines opposing armies to the gantries and structures of an ocean harvesting rig on Fathom. Infantry must navigate elevated routes while objectives can be swallowed by rising water, producing a hazardous battle that can also be reimagined above lava or other impassable surfaces.
Bespoke Crusade rules make the Tome Keepers’ pursuit of knowledge a campaign resource. Battle honours, relics and requisitions reward gathering and archiving information, turning the Chapter’s scholarly customs into choices that influence unit development and the force’s longer narrative.
Two D66 tables supply names for individual Tome Keepers, supporting the Chapter’s established cultural flavour. The tool gives hobbyists a practical starting point for recording personal histories, naming squad members and making Crusade participants easier to remember as their stories develop.
The team explains how conversations about Chapter customs became the seed for its first short story. Details such as a warrior’s book being closed at death and the double meaning of a page grow into narrative opportunities, showing how collaborative background can guide fiction without dictating every event.
Sergeant Ishlar records the death of a brother after an engagement with Genestealer Cults and their alien masters. Memories of the fight alternate with the Chapter’s rites of remembrance, exploring how the Tome Keepers preserve a warrior’s life in writing while confronting the closeness of their own deaths.
James Gallagher discusses the relationship between trying to win and ensuring that both players enjoy a Crusade. Shared expectations, character-consistent decisions and thematically chosen scars or rewards can make defeats as meaningful as victories, provided the group agrees on how its narrative will shape play.
Scott Sez turns miniature photographs into battlefield illustrations by adding atmosphere, lighting and environmental effects. He explains how the original models suggest each treatment, from blurred aircraft backgrounds to snowy scenes and sinister smoke, preserving their painted character while extending the imagined world around them.
Scott Sez demonstrates a layered digital paintover in Procreate, building the backdrop, tonal adjustments and luminous details around a miniature photograph. Clouds, sparks and reflected light unify the image, with different atmospheric treatments showing how the same techniques adapt to spectral and technological subjects.
Ogors enter Excelsis as hired defenders while Skragrott’s plan coordinates attacks through walls, sewers and harbour. Mercenary greed, hidden bargains and gargant assaults turn apparent reinforcements into threats, bringing the city close to destruction before the wider struggle interrupts the attackers’ expected feast.
Four linked scenarios follow breaches, betrayal, dockside fire and the struggle for Excelsis’s secrets. Destruction scores carry the action through the campaign, giving the attacker a reason to wreck structures and the defender a difficult balance between protecting the city and stopping the invading forces.
Custom hero creation expands to ogor Tyrants, Butchers and Mega-Gargants through destiny-point archetypes, weapons, companions and abilities. Big Names and appropriately outsized options express the factions’ character, with Glottor Bhulk and Derko Walrusbiter showing how to build the accompanying story’s leaders.
The four Mortal Realms armies reach roughly a thousand points and begin to reveal their strengths in larger games. New monsters, ranged contingents and mortal followers expand the original plans, while battle experiences show why an impressive collection still needs units that can answer an opponent’s particular threats.
Martyn Lyon adds Avalenor and Stoneguard to provide an imposing centre and a hard-hitting response to enemy monsters. Their first major clash demonstrates the mountain spirit’s power, while plans for a supporting Stonemage show how a centrepiece benefits from a coherent collection around it.
Three Chaos Chariots represent contributions from the rival brothers leading Miyuki Foulkes’s warband. Distinct black, gold and silver finishes reinforce that story, while kitchen-table games and a personal reminder notebook help her learn the army’s rules and plan a useful Sorcerer addition.
Rich Packer expands the Order’s ranged forces with converted aelves and suspicious human allies. Living City deployment options and mobile objective hunters give the collection flexibility, while a close game against a Slaaneshi host demonstrates how auxiliary scoring can decide a battle even amid considerable casualties.
Calum McPherson adds Myrmidesh Painbringers, a Lord of Pain and a Fane to the daemon contingent. Their damage output gives the army a new role, but a difficult encounter with Avalenor exposes its limited answers to large monsters and helps determine which reinforcements should come next.
Louis Aguilar explains the faction updates accompanying Kragnos, including refined Gloomspite subfactions, more flexible Wyldwoods and changes to important heroes. Skaven monsters and support units receive particular attention, illustrating an effort to make less-used choices attractive within established armies.
Mark Lifton discusses his long fascination with two-figure narratives and the process of finding components that make them convincing. Matched eye lines, altered victim poses and carefully controlled bases create the interaction, while varied finishes and continual experimentation keep his competition painting developing.
The Crimson Court offers two competing paths through Hunger: embrace Bloodthirst or manage counters to become Inspired. Fighter-specific upgrades and healing effects let the vampires adopt different roles, making the timing of attacks and counter removal central to a flexible but demanding warband.
Hedkrakka’s fighters turn the Primacy token into inspiration, movement and offensive advantages. The analysis explores how each orruk helps gain or exploit that token, with aggressive positioning and repeatable movement tricks sustaining the warband’s momentum rather than relying only on powerful attacks.
A tactical introduction explains how Ulfenkarn’s enemies work together, from diseased swarms and persistent zombies to disciplined Ulfenwatch and their leaders. Fast vampires, heavy Nightguard and Radukar demand different responses, with the article identifying which support threats the heroes should remove before they multiply the danger.
An illustrated reading guide arranges Age of Sigmar fiction around the Realmgate Wars, Soul Wars and later upheavals. Series links and suggested entry points help readers follow recurring heroes or particular factions, while notes on older-set stories distinguish historical tales from the continuing chronology.
Treebeard’s exceptional strength and monster attacks offer far more than straightforward combat power. The guide explores Barge, Hurl and Bludgeon, the benefits of an Ent army and the extra tactical options supplied by Merry and Pippin, emphasising patient positioning rather than a hasty unsupported advance.
The Maker looks back on his people’s suffering and considers why he must let them find strengths he did not teach them. As the duardin survive through resilience and invention, his final act creates a shared wandering ancestor who can unite their scattered cultures without denying their hard-earned independence.
Staff show new Necrons, a Hydra, Space Wolves and Cursed City miniatures while reporting progress on hobby bingo. Varied projects and shared milestone sheets keep the challenge active, with quick colour recipes illustrating how painters fit fresh additions into their existing armies.