WHITE DWARF · AUGUST 2022
Rondhol’s Great Stomp begins, Stormhost recipes, Harrowdeep campaign, Necron Crusade rules and preparations for Barbarus.
COVER TO COVER
In printed page order
Lyle Lowery introduces a redesigned magazine intended to make sections and back issues easier to navigate. The return of a bundled Munitorum Field Manual also begins a promise to provide updated points alongside White Dwarf, linking the visual refresh to a practical reference that readers can carry with their army books.
Readers share a wearable crown built from thousands of Warhammer components, a signed Gimli diorama and memories of a much-loved fellow hobbyist. Painting answers explain Magore’s red armour and brass trim, while the model-of-the-month Gordrakk uses deliberately desaturated desert colours and an unconventional emerald skin tone.
The article explains realmspheres, the increasingly dangerous magic towards their edges and the realmgates that connect their habitable interiors. Moons, satellites, Seraphon temple-ships and the Realm of Chaos broaden the picture beyond eight isolated landscapes, leaving space for strange dimensions and the threatening creatures that cross the surrounding void.
Creating a Stormhost can begin with a name and colours but gains depth through its realm, heroic origins, purpose and commanding characters. Examples explain primary, secondary and accent colours, while the Anvils of the Heldenhammer show how background and appearance can reinforce each other across an entire Stormcast collection.
The dark red armour and cold blue details of Matt’s Ulgu Stormhost connect it to his other shadow-realm armies. Pale mounts and sparse neutral bases reinforce the hostile environment, while layered armour and red robes retain warmth and distinction rather than letting the collection disappear into an undifferentiated black scheme.
Meg’s first Age of Sigmar army draws on the Astral Templars’ Ghurish beast-hunter identity. Rich magenta armour and blue robes contrast with cream-and-brown Draconith, while carefully painted feathers, tapestry-like banners and overgrown bases create the feeling of a host advancing through a living jungle.
Ashley’s Aqshian Stormhost replaces familiar celestial lightning with fire and intense heat. Dark bronze armour and red robes support brighter magical effects on Yndrasta and the host’s beasts, with a metallic-undercoat method and fiery wing recipe showing how to give the entire collection a strong connection to its chosen realm.
A Stormhost of criminals sentenced to repeated, costly reforging receives a severe white-and-turquoise appearance. John keeps the method quick, adding stippled damage and abundant blood to convey warriors treated as expendable weapons, while dark cloaks, worn gold and parchment details prevent the simple palette from losing material variety.
James pairs pale gold armour with rich purple robes and uses green mosses and tufts to locate the Lions in Ghyran. The infantry receive an efficient Battle Ready treatment while heroes gain further attention, demonstrating how a limited palette can support both mass painting and more carefully finished centrepieces.
Chris takes the normally pristine Knights Excelsior into the mud and grime of Thondia. Diluted Contrast paints establish ivory and blue before oil weathering and textured corrosion age the Annihilators, making the familiar Stormhost feel engaged in a particular campaign rather than newly issued from the armoury.
Krystal’s Praetors combine rich crimson armour with glowing blue eyes and axe blades. Leather-hide cloaks express the warriors’ beast-slayer identity and a small gold accent punctuates the otherwise restrained palette, with concise recipes showing how to build the red patina and contrasting celestial light.
Steve imagines Evocators corrupted by the dangerous artefacts they were charged with destroying, their spirits becoming impossible to reforge. Mixing Stormcast and Nighthaunt parts gives the models an ethereal aspect, while weathered steel, pale blue spectral effects and a glossy damp finish support the tragic background.
Joseph’s personal Stormhost venerates Draconith and flames, replacing conventional blue panels with warm red details and gold armour. Cool blue Draconith provide a deliberate contrast, with separate scale and wing recipes allowing the mounts to remain visually distinct while belonging to the same evolving collection.
Danny draws a Stormhost from Ghur’s ancient peoples and covers its ochre-and-teal armour with furs and animal trophies. Desert, jungle and ocean associations inform the complementary colours, turning the warriors’ origins into a practical painting scheme rather than relying on background alone to explain their identity.
Luke sculpts knightly helmets to give his Stormcast a more traditional armoured-warrior character. Weathered steel and rich red fabrics remain simple enough to repeat across the host, with oil paints adding an aged finish and yellow mixed into the red highlights to preserve saturation.
Rondhol’s predatory rivers and ancient geography make settlement a dangerous ambition even by Ghurish standards. Native peoples, Dawnbringer Crusades and competing greenskins draw on myths of Sigmar and Gorkamorka, while Ka-rokk’s river-borne Ironjawz gather other Destruction forces into a growing threat to Everquake City.
A multiplayer campaign pits a spreading Destruction Waaagh! against armies seeking to contain it. Achievements earn points for claiming or pillaging territory cards, defeated players can attempt costly conquests and limited battlefield benefits encourage choices between holdings; optional Path to Glory integration replaces achievement bookkeeping with that campaign’s existing progression.
New lead developer Matthew Rose recounts his route into the studio before setting out principles for Age of Sigmar’s continued development. Evocative units, fairness that permits learning from defeat, varied armies and trustworthy books provide a framework for difficult trade-offs, with player feedback helping the team judge whether its priorities match actual games.
Two to four warbands descend through Harrowdeep along a connected location map, fighting to explore progressively deeper routes. Who meets whom depends on their chosen locations and relative progress, retreat offers an escape from poor choices, and only victory at the Waking Gate ends the campaign with a warband free of the maze.
Each Harrowdeep location imposes a different battlefield disadvantage and offers a choice of reward cards. A warband’s treasure hoard can temporarily modify its Rivals deck, but lost games may send rewards to an opponent, turning route selection and deck adjustments into an interconnected risk rather than a permanent upward march in power.
Richard Butler begins army construction with the player’s purpose, then works through faction, units and how their roles support each other. The machine analogy stresses useful combinations over isolated efficiency, while actual games become an ongoing test that can expose weak elements or even change the original goals of a collection.
Five magazine hobbyists review the early stages of their Spec Ops campaigns and discover the practical strengths and weaknesses of their operatives. Learning experiences range from concealed Ork charges and Sorcerer flexibility to Harlequin firepower, vulnerable Guardsmen and T’au markerlights, with the following team reports adding rosters, scenery and paint recipes.
Lyle’s Da Sneaky Ladz remain unbeaten after four games, with their developing skills and equipment supporting particularly effective specialists. His hobby additions include looted military barricades, an individual combat knife and a newly identified boy, while the updated roster and ledger show the growing resources behind the team’s Blitz operation.
Sophie’s Void-dancers have played extensively and progressed far through their Spec Op despite failing to turn that experience into wins. The Death Jester’s equipment and the troupe’s defensive tricks inform her lessons, while a detailed roster, campaign ledger and painting notes show the personal team taking shape alongside its tactical development.
Matt finds his Warpcoven’s flexible sorcerers effective once he learns how to use their powers and repeated attack options. A cautious game against Harlequins rewards psychic reconnaissance and careful positioning, while converted or decorated barricades, colour notes and an updated roster connect the fighting to the team’s arcane identity.
Ben learns that his Veteran Guardsmen must score early before casualties undermine their objectives. A sniper’s vantage point and concentrated special weapons provide brighter moments, including a crowded firefight against Pathfinders, while new terrain depicts an overgrown site reclaimed for the team and the campaign ledger records its slow advance.
Dan’s Pathfinders improve as he learns to combine drones, markerlights and specialist abilities rather than treating each operative in isolation. His growing team receives an associated killzone showing a downed Devilfish in a ruined manufactorum, with building materials, colour recipes and the campaign roster supporting the narrative of a stranded reconnaissance force.
Battle Group Kallides pushes into the Nephilim Anomaly and discovers silent worlds, increasingly difficult warp travel and enormous blackstone pylons. Failed attacks reveal the scale of the Necron engineering, while Illuminor Szeras deliberately studies the invaders’ varied reactions instead of immediately destroying them, turning Imperial resistance into material for his experiments.
Additional Necron advancement tables give Destroyer Cults, Flayed Ones, Triarch Praetorians and Titanic units more specialised identities. Damage overrides, improved reanimation, territorial defence and terrifying auras let campaign veterans develop according to their battlefield role while still following the core Crusade rules for honours and points.
Szarekhan Crusade forces gain experience by exterminating an enemy army, with further honours for a noble commanding the complete destruction. Reworked engrams allow a Battle Trait to be replaced, specialised traits reward executioners and trophy killers, and a Domination Stave forces a nearby foe to fight after the bearer’s army.
Sautekh characters pursue distinguished enemies to earn experience and requisition, reflecting the Stormlord’s appetite for humiliating opposing commanders. A victorious campaign army can absorb a defeated Necron unit, while improved penetration, aggressive objective control and a lightning-charged relic cloak reinforce the dynasty’s conquering character.
Mephrit’s Crusade package rewards the dynasty’s destructive approach through its own Agenda and advancement choices. Internal rivalry becomes a requisition that grants one warrior experience at another’s expense, while the Dominance Scythe provides a particularly potent weapon against enemy warlords, joining military ambition to courtly intrigue.
Novokh units gain honours for repeated melee slaughter, with greater achievements marking especially murderous warriors for greatness. Scarred infantry can succumb to the Destroyer curse and be replaced by a suitably experienced Destroyer unit, while bloody traits and a life-draining cloak turn the dynasty’s rituals into escalating campaign violence.
Nihilakh Core units secure objectives by erecting dominance pylons, earning experience while improving command coverage. Defensive and repair-focused traits support holding territory, a requisition adds an Agenda for a particular battle, and the Yth Engrams relic translates stolen prophecy into extra resources and improved reliability.
Nephrekh forces establish solar collection sites that reward experience and empower nearby ranged weapons. Traits enhance living-light movement and defence, a requisition changes a C’tan’s selected powers, and the Starfire Mantle lets a translocating character retain firepower while burning enemies crossed along its path.
Edd Ralph recreates the studio’s early-1990s Blood Angels collection with modern miniatures, carefully echoing original poses, vehicles and small details. Converted armour, a reimagined Tycho and a Thudd Gun crew connect the new force to classic images, while a looser, weathered painting style gives the nostalgic project a functional military appearance.
Edd develops worn red armour through a broad dark wash, lifted highlights and a unifying red glaze. His deliberately free treatment of metallics mixes violet and sepia on the model to create an oily patina, with separate recipes for black, yellow, gold and earthy bases preserving distinct surfaces across the army.
Matt Hutson’s Imperial Fists face Jonathan Stapleton’s Thokt Necrons in a thousand-point battle driven by changing Tempest of War objectives. Tor Garadon inflicts spectacular damage, but the Necrons’ mobility, restored Destroyers and late objective grabs secure victory, showing how effective killing can still fall behind flexible scoring.
Six collectors prepare three-thousand-point Legion forces for a massive assault on the Death Guard home world. Lion El’Jonson’s campaign provides the narrative link between the Loyalists, while the Traitors gather to defend Barbarus; the feature supplies army lists and player intentions ahead of the battle planned for subsequent issues.
Ben’s Raven Guard represent Corax’s reluctant contribution to the Lion’s campaign. A Vigilator, specialist infantry, a trio of Contemptors and substantial aerial and armoured support divide the enemy’s attention, allowing precise attacks on vulnerable targets rather than accepting an honourable contest on the Traitors’ preferred terms.
James brings a late-Heresy Space Wolves force with Russ and numerous Legion-specific warriors at its heart. Rapid infantry assaults and a terminator-carrying Spartan drive the attack, supported by short-range specialists and heavy bolters; he hopes his allies can remove distant armour while the Wolves hunt the enemy’s more personal targets.
Dimi uses the Dark Angels’ varied wings to create an elite attacking force around the Lion and Inner Circle Knights. Interemptors and Dreadnoughts contest the centre, armoured guns threaten enemy vehicles and Ravenwing units harass exposed positions, with each unit’s wing chosen to support its intended task.
Les builds a solid Sons of Horus infantry line with advice from the other Traitor commanders. A Chaplain-led terminator assault and summoned daemons provide close threats, while a Kratos and Cerberus aim to destroy Loyalist armour or even punish a Primarch before the defenders’ line collapses.
Ben’s ragged Iron Warriors trade conventional tanks for infantry, Dreadnoughts and numerous robots. A Warsmith with a cortex controller, Forge Lord and Mortificator coordinate the machines, while expendable troops and pinning fire seek to slow the Loyalist assault long enough for the battle-automata to decide the fight.
Tim’s Death Guard advance with heavy weapons despite moving, using Apothecaries and objective-based resilience to keep their infantry functioning. Poisoned weapons and hazardous grenades support a plan to provoke rash enemy charges, turning the Legion’s endurance and chemical warfare into a defence against more spectacular Loyalist assault units.
Ben makes a toxic Barbaran battlefield large enough for six Legion armies, combining industry, bunkers, wreckage and ruined vegetation. MDF, carved insulation foam, textured filler and coloured resin establish the landscape, while adapted industrial kits and wrecked tanks provide objectives; the painting stages unite earth, buildings and wrecks through a deliberately hostile palette.
Separate recipes cover shattered earth, burned trees, hab buildings, rocks, metals and Death Guard wrecks. The chemical silos use a rust-coloured underlayer beneath hairspray and pale paint, then warm water and a toothbrush expose chips, creating worn industrial surfaces that match the battlefield’s polluted ground.
Probator Calix investigates a young man recovered from a canal after an accusation of psychic ability. The evidence leads to a powerful family and a different concealed psyker, but solving the crime brings pressure to destroy the truth; professional ambition and threats to someone she loves leave the investigator compromised by the system she serves.
Sian Liddle explains the appeal and painting of Treebeard, using varied washes and drybrushing to make bark and foliage feel alive. Staff Hobby Bingo progress and a notice about the magazine’s printed points booklet round out the update, connecting individual projects with collecting goals and practical gaming reference material.
Borja personalises the plastic Praetor with a Legion-specific helmet and terminator officer’s axe. Carefully shaded blue armour and progressively paler highlights connect the model to Ultramarines identity, showing how a small number of well-chosen replacements can make a widely shared character kit feel like part of a particular Legion.
Les combines the two plastic Praetor kits, pairing the sword-armed body with the alternative head and backpack. A power maul from the Sons of Horus Cataphractii officer completes the weapon choice, and the character’s appearance is planned to join the Legion force he is preparing for the Barbarus battle.
Aidan transforms the Praetor with an older Warpsmith’s mechatendril cloak and a Primaris Techmarine head. A Kharadron hammer adds another mechanical detail, while yellow hazard stripes emphasise the Iron Warriors character and make the model appear more machine than man.
Rebecca uses Scarab Occult components to give the new Praetor a distinctly Thousand Sons head, crest and khopesh. A clear red layer over silver establishes the armour’s metallic depth, followed by a dark wash and contrasting metallic highlights that retain the Legion’s brilliant red appearance.
Rowan imagines a survivor of the Dropsite Massacre whose rebuilt body and patched armour record catastrophic injuries. A Techmarine head and Iron Father Feirros components supply the mechanical replacements, making the conversion’s damaged and repaired identity part of the character’s history.
Kieran adds a Dark Fury jump pack and lightning claws alongside raven trophies and a characteristic uncovered head. Cold highlights define the dark armour while dustier khaki shades distinguish the cloak, giving the mobile officer the Raven Guard’s stealthy identity without losing visual separation between materials.
Damien replaces the Praetor’s axe with a Wrathmonger hammer and uses a Spartan crew head for an appropriately practical officer. Layered metallic paint, dark shading and a separate grime wash make the armour look used, with a final bright highlight restoring definition around the edges.
Ant leaves the Praetor’s sculpt unchanged and establishes Legion identity through the paintwork. Deep red armour receives dark blue-green shading and warm pale highlights, while heavily stained metal adds an aged, corrupt appearance without requiring extra sculpted details or replacement components.
Harley exchanges the axe for a Stormcast Retributor hammer and adds older-style shoulder pads and a Legion upgrade head. Sculpted putty turns chainmail into drake scales, bringing several different kits together around the Salamanders’ forging traditions and reptilian imagery.
The reusable Hobby Bingo card offers a grid of modelling and painting targets spanning heroes, larger creatures, units and scenery. Completing varied projects builds a score, providing a simple way to turn collecting intentions into visible progress throughout the year and compare achievements with the studio challenge.