WHITE DWARF · DECEMBER 2022
Kraken Blades, icy Fyreslayers, Corvus Cabal quests, hero and Primarch galleries, Votann convoy chase and Necron tomb campaign.
COVER TO COVER
In printed page order
Lyle Lowery presents the issue’s Votann battle as an example of building a game around a shared story. A convoy ambush becomes a rolling-road chase whose rules change as the action develops, encouraging readers to treat missions as tools for narrative play and agree adjustments that keep both participants involved.
Readers praise Crusade projects, ask about Khaine and request the Sanctuary 101 terrain palette. Stan Byrne explains a skateboarding Ork conversion, while Andreas Packroff’s sunset-inspired Stormcast combine stormy blue-grey armour, orange details and pale bone, with recipes showing how the unusual contrasts hold together across a sizeable army.
A branching questionnaire links attitudes towards leadership, society and warfare to armies of the Mortal Realms. Alongside the playful recommendations, the introduction considers how sub-faction stories and colours can help establish a more personal collecting direction once the reader has chosen the broader force that appeals to them.
The Kraken Blades counter the southward Waaagh! with fast attacks on its vulnerable allies and leaders. Their sea-born tactics exploit river routes and ogor supply problems, while the dying mountain Beastgrave and animated orruk idols add new dangers, making the struggle to delay Ka-rokk more complex than simply holding a battle line.
The campaign adds new territories and a sequence of post-battle events that connect individual results to the wider war in Ghur. Status cards can bless a general, strengthen a position or impose curses and poisoned conditions, with acquisition and loss rules giving these shifting advantages a life beyond a single encounter.
Matthew Rose describes combining automated event data with qualitative playtest reports and organised player feedback. A new battletome moves through goals, prototypes, testing and revision, while live problems follow a measured process of diagnosis and evaluation; submission advice asks players to make clear, focused reports that distinguish the issue from a proposed solution.
Joel Day gives Fyreslayers an icy identity after rejecting more conventional ways to make the army distinctive. Their exile story explains extinguished fires, cold runes and a life in the Grymmpeaks, while gaming memories and alliances show how the unusual visual theme supports an active collection rather than a display-only concept.
Joel shares traditional basecoat, wash and highlight recipes for skin, blue hair, gold, bone and cold metallics. His Magmadroths and invocations provide opportunities to practise wet blending, while the gallery’s named heroes shows how a shared palette can give individual characters a place within the unusual lodge.
A glowing blue foundation sits beneath patches of cracking earth and rough texture paint to suggest a frozen surface splitting above cold light. Successive dark washes and grey drybrushes join the materials, then extra blue and snow finish the effect, making the bases an active part of the lodge’s icy story.
Corvus Cabal trophy hunters descend on the Gnarlwood in search of prizes worthy of their shadowy patron. Their ritualised ambushes, silent communication and willingness to lure stronger enemies into predatory terrain give the faction a distinct hunting culture before the new quests develop its material and spiritual rewards.
The Cabal seek a chosen prize from the Carrion Trophies table by gathering spoils from their defeated enemies. The resulting artefacts offer mobility, endurance or ways to obstruct reactions, ensuring that the trophies collected through the campaign can influence the warband’s next ambush rather than remaining decorative rewards.
A Shadow Piercer searches for an offering important enough to gain the patron’s attention and earn a heroic trait. The reward table reinforces the leader’s predatory and mystical identity, including charms that manipulate ability dice, so the quest can shape both a personal legend and practical battle plans.
A Cabal warband pursues a permanent vantage above the Gnarlwood by accumulating high-ground achievements. A dedicated ambush encounter tests the hunters before the location is secured, with deployment, escape and casualties making the search for a home an active campaign episode rather than a simple purchase.
The new encampment supports heroic renown and lets fighters search the surrounding Gnarlwood for consumable artefacts at some risk. Name, origin and leader tables then flesh out the warband’s culture, with suggestions for former Archaon followers, cunning ambushers and trophy-driven zealots giving the campaign a personal cast.
Dave Sanders offers both a gentle method of replacing weaker cards and a more deliberate process that begins with scoring objectives. Ploys and upgrades are chosen to enable the plan, then actual games reveal improvements, with two worked decks demonstrating how the same restricted format can support contrasting warbands and strategies.
The Gnarlspirit Pack combine their own cards with Tooth and Claw to emphasise aggression and their savage transformed state. Chosen objectives reward the same forward pressure that the power deck supports, showing how a Nemesis list can commit to a clear plan instead of selecting individually attractive cards with conflicting requirements.
The Sons of Velmorn pair with Daring Delvers to advance steadily from friendly territory and build an Exploration count. Movement gear and explorer benefits support objective control, while faction-specific defensive and recovery cards exploit the skeletons’ ability to hold their ground as the deck works towards its chosen scores.
Names, sub-faction, war zone and background provide a framework for inventing a modelled army leader. Captain Abhis bal Narath demonstrates a fully developed brief, while existing named figures offer an alternative for collectors who prefer interpreting established lore to writing a character’s history from the beginning.
Aidan combines several Gravis kits to make a bear-like Chapter Master and sculpts fur, hair and a beard. Cold white armour and ice contrast with warmer organic and metallic details, making the character’s formidable build and home environment visible in the finished model.
Matt’s Autarch joins an established craftworld army through orange armour, cool blue cloth and grey wraithbone weapons. Warm and cool areas are deliberately assigned to different materials, giving the new leader a distinctive yet recognisably shared appearance within the collection.
Pete adds characters to reserve-company Raven Guard, using head swaps to distinguish a Phobos Captain and Bladeguard Ancient. Shared dark armour, cool white details and matching bases tie the officers together, while the Techmarine’s red armour remains legible within the same muted palette.
Dirk repositions both the pilot and suit into a stoic knightly pose, moving the guns to the shoulders to clear the field of view. A stern uncovered head completes the character, while grey armour and warm red details underline the deliberate departure from a conventional metallic Grey Knights finish.
Jake converts two Primaris officers with Crusader components, small chains and distinctive weapons to establish their Black Templars identity. Bright pink power blades provide a forceful contrast to layered black armour, allowing the individually assembled figures to share a clear command-group appearance.
Matt explores coloured light across two large daemons, making Be’lakor shadowy and surreal while letting Magnus remain a bright focal model. Pink, purple and blue light rise from the bases beneath a cooler atmosphere, with separate wing and skin recipes explaining the varied source effects.
Neil uses guitar strings as bendable mechanical appendages on a subtly modified Tech-Priest and a far more extensive Inquisitor conversion. Kritza supplies the latter’s body beneath an eviscerator and replacement details, while red, grey and weathered leather provide clear surfaces for the unusual Imperial pair.
Phil rebuilds Nazdreg from Ghazghkull, combining a Redemptor fist and plasma weapon with Meganob technology to form Kustom Blasta-X. A modified Makari standard supplies the banner, while layered yellow armour, deep black and a cool blue glow distinguish the Bad Moon warlord.
Luke merges a Dark Apostle’s torso and religious equipment with the mounted Lord Discordant, preserving the flaming book and a convenient lectern. Deep red armour and bright heretical flames reinforce the character’s preaching zeal, turning the technical war machine into a mobile pulpit for the Legion.
Joe updates Corbulo with Lieutenant Tolmeron’s body, Death Company parts and a carefully repositioned grail-bearing arm. Apothecary equipment completes the familiar role, while pale armour and red details make the conversion readable as the Blood Angels’ healer despite its new Primaris proportions.
Ben models Lieutenant Korsk, a character already mentioned in the Tome Keepers’ Rorphax story. Assault Intercessor legs meet a shield, volkite pistol and sheathed Templar sword, while company markings, pale armour and dark blue shoulder pads connect the individual officer to the Meridian Shields’ wider identity.
James constructs a Gravis-armoured Librarian to accompany his heavier Sons of Guilliman models. Tor Garadon provides the imposing body, standard Librarian parts establish the psychic role and replacement rocks alter the base, with blue armour and warm gold tying the new character to his Chapter.
Ashley equips a Tor Garadon-based Chapter Master with paired claws and a Space Wolves head, adding sculpted hair and fur from an imagined initiation trophy. White armour and ice-blue blades make the model’s ursine and frozen-world themes visible without relying solely on the Chapter name.
Richard updates the Crimson Fists commander for the Indomitus era using Tor Garadon and iconic parts from the classic model. A Black Templar head, banner, storm bolter and ruined tank base recall the Chapter’s desperate last stands, with straightforward blue and red recipes retaining its familiar colours.
Luke’s young Dark Angels successor Chapter lacks Interrogator-Chaplains, leaving this Captain to question captured Fallen himself. Tools in the tabard express that background, while green power armour and bone sections give the officer a recognisable connection to the parent Chapter beneath the personalised role.
Keith contrasts pale sun-bleached skin with a glossy black carapace and raw-looking flesh weapons. A light spray makes the pale surfaces manageable, controlled crimson shading defines the recesses and the deliberately different finishes help the large organism’s body, shell and symbiotic guns remain visually distinct.
Martin recreates elements of the classic 1990 Games Day Captain for his own Black Vultures leader. A modern Primaris body and commemorative components provide the familiar fist, shoulder pads and scabbard, while silver armour and a red cape make the nostalgic reference belong to a new Chapter.
Neil gives his Judiciar an Ultramarines Legion axe, volkite pistol and Reiver skull mask. The coat becomes the focus through battered brown leather tones, with the same colours used more darkly on the armour so the converted executioner retains a unified severe appearance.
Louise combines an ogor Frostlord’s torso and standing ogor legs to build a massive Ork leader. A Warboss head and claw plus an orruk spear establish the faction, while bright skin and spotted hide give the brute a recognisable Snakebite character.
François makes a Lord Discordant more openly Slaaneshi with an ornate Symbaresh head, new blade and mirror standard. The Helstalker remains unchanged beneath its newly refined master, while purple armour and pale highlighted gold provide a direct visual statement of allegiance to the Dark Prince.
Lucy’s Mekboss Bucktoof Urtsmogg becomes a heavily augmented leader through a Morkanaut cannon arm, an orruk glyph head and a Battlewagon-derived banner. Blue plates, bare metal and glowing green technology make the enormous scavenged components read as a cohesive Deathskulls invention.
James gives his Deathskulls rider a worn wasteland appearance and paints the Squigosaur grey because its shape suggests a shark. A dusty pale-brown foundation carries through the whole model, while blue armour and a yellow desert base provide contrasts around the animal’s muted skin.
James Gallagher’s Ymyr convoy tries to escape Sam Pearson’s Genestealer Cultists across a rolling-road battlefield before finding its destination already compromised. Evolving agreed objectives turn the chase into a last stand, and the cult finally captures High Kâhl Vôrk Cthynn, leaving the surviving Kin planning reinforcements and a rescue rather than a simple points-based ending.
Connor studies earlier studio interpretations before separating Maugan Ra’s many black surfaces through different warm and cool highlights. Bone receives several natural hues, burgundy and teal provide restrained accents, and the Dark Reapers echo their founder’s palette, showing how careful material choices keep a sombre model rich in detail.
Profiles of Necron leaders and Imperial formations show how the war’s many fronts depend on competing personalities as well as enormous armies. Szarekh balances nobles, Crypteks and suspicious allies while Marran struggles to impose unity on weakened forces, with named commanders, troop notes and classified reports extending the setting’s military and political context.
A modular rotating corridor map leads two to four armies into powered catacombs beneath a Necron world. Secret traps, changing connections and location-specific battle effects complicate the race for points, while a final challenge stage decides the winner; the campaign works alone or as a continuation of Rising Tomb and supports both ordinary armies and Crusade.
The teams finish the expedition’s second stage and finally find resource caches alongside salvage and knowledge. An updated map and results table show Lyle’s commanding salvage lead, Matt’s strong resource haul and the uneven fortunes of the remaining teams as the final stretch of the Gallowdark campaign approaches.
Lyle’s Orks win two bloody narrative missions despite taking heavier casualties than before. A late Bomb Squig blast opens a valuable objective against Ben, while Ragga’s developing skills and the ledger show how battlefield losses can coexist with strong scoring and an increasingly rich stockpile of campaign materials.
Sophie’s Harlequins struggle after a misunderstood breakout condition and a difficult confrontation with sorcerers. She concludes that the elite fighters work best in concert rather than as isolated duellists, while an additional Player and further equipment offer new possibilities even from the bottom of the campaign standings.
Matt wins against both Ben and Sophie by using sorcerer mobility and the threat of his strongest fighter to dictate movement. New recruits and further honours build on this advantage, with the Subsidence game showing how an intimidating operative can hold attention while faster allies secure the actual objectives.
Ben’s Guardsmen survive two more defeats and prove more dangerous in the exchanges than the final scores suggest. A crucial priority roll allows the Ork Bomb Squig to overturn one fight, while new honours and added grenades show a veteran team continuing to learn despite its difficult place in the expedition.
Dan’s Pathfinders endure a costly draw and a devastating fight against Lyle’s Kommandos. Poorly grouped deployment makes explosives particularly destructive, but the games still reveal useful door-opening and drone interactions, and additional gun drones broaden his options for the expedition’s remaining challenges.
The next Battle Doctrines exercises focus on the Scorpius missile tank as a source of bombardment, counter-battery fire and a target for infiltrators. Special force selection and compact scenarios isolate the artillery’s role, encouraging repeated games that test practical positioning and support rather than a standard all-purpose army list.
An infantry advance attempts to drive a lightly defended artillery detachment from an important position. Scorpius fire earns its own rewards for pinning Line troops and destroying formations, so the defender’s goal is not simply maximum casualties but breaking the momentum of the advancing force.
Opposing artillery forces duel while screening troops and dedicated spotters determine what can be located and destroyed. Restricted deployment separates batteries from their supporting elements, turning the scenario into a practical test of exposing enemy guns without leaving one’s own artillery vulnerable to advancing outriders.
An elite attacking force tries to separate Scorpius vehicles from their escorts and destroy the artillery. The opposing commander scores for each surviving missile tank, while careful deployment and supporting units test whether the battery can remain protected against specialists approaching through difficult terrain.
Damien draws on Visions of Heresy to make Horus a dark, corrupted presence above a much lighter base. Reflective black and warm non-metallic gold frame the pale face, whose red surrounding light and deepened shadows emphasise both the focal point and the Warmaster’s frightening character.
Dorn stands victorious over a fallen enemy in a scene composed around several kinds of painted gold. Warm armour and cooler white gold receive carefully placed reflections, including the red of his cape, so the impressive metallic appearance comes from colour and lighting rather than metallic pigment.
Magnus defends Prospero through surging sorcery above a broken temple base. Damien balances believable red flesh, controlled gold and rich turquoise, using blue shadows and a unifying crimson glaze so that the elaborate miniature remains coherent despite its numerous strongly contrasting surfaces.
Alpharius kills a wounded Imperial Fist during the Battle of Pluto, framed by iridescent blue-green armour. Successive turquoise and green highlights pick out the scales, violet warms the shadows and cool blue steel trim provides a separate reflective surface beneath small orange focal accents.
Inspired by Prospero Burns artwork, Damien paints Russ with several distinct grey tones and warm non-metallic gold. Armour, pelts and a weathered ruined base offer different textures, while small turquoise and red remnants evoke the lost grandeur of Prospero beneath the Primarch’s aggressive stance.
The Lion confronts Night Lords on Tsagualsa in a scene that balances black armour with desaturated cloth and muted green. Contrasting red and blue reflections define separate blades, while warm details and carefully restrained highlights keep the two swords distinct and connect them to the fallen foe.
Flames around Vulkan and light from Dawnbringer create warmth across otherwise green armour and coal-dark skin. Damien highlights different facial areas with different hues, using the brightest marks around the face so the Primarch’s eyes and expression remain the focal point despite the model’s many fiery details.
Rain-soaked book-cover imagery informs Curze’s glossy midnight-blue armour, lightning and high Gothic base. Cold unseen moonlight meets a warmer glow from below, positioning the Primarch as a vampiric predator over his victims while reflections and puddles strengthen the nocturnal atmosphere.
Sanguinius fights a daemon during the Signus campaign in a deliberately bright-versus-dark composition. Painted gold reflects surrounding colours while pale wings and a highly reflective spear direct attention towards his face, with carefully shaded rocks supporting the angelic figure without competing with it.
Guilliman’s deeper azure armour and warm gold convey polished authority, with strong reflection points distinguishing him from ordinary Legionaries. A restrained red cloak and delicately lined marble base balance the colour scheme, placing the Primarch in the opulent setting of Macragge’s Fortress of Hera.
A limited pale palette and tiny stippled highlights give Mortarion’s armour a textured finish. Faded green trim and orange-copper non-metallic areas provide restrained contrast, while rust, cracked paint and dirty earth from the base carry onto the figure to make him belong in his unhealthy surroundings.
Damien chooses dark red rather than traditional steel for Lorgar and carries the same red foundation into all the painted metals. A purple-toned, skull-like face and sickly green light from below reinforce corruption, making the visual interpretation an account of the Primarch’s nature as much as his Legion colours.
Brown-toned steel and warm gold are painted without metallics, with aligned highlights and reflection points suggesting heavy polished armour. The fallen Knight beneath Perturabo receives dirtier, corroded colours, while an imagined fiery light from below introduces a contrasting direction and gives the scene additional depth.
The Khan stands in the ruins of Prospero after refusing Mortarion’s appeal, wearing subtly varied white armour and sparing bright red accents. Reflective blade colours and carefully controlled highlights complete a demanding miniature, presented as the final challenge in Damien’s extensive Primarch collection.
Runtherd Killaskun and his grots find themselves stranded among human ruins while the wider Ork force races away. Confused arguments among strangely altered humans lead to a horrifying encounter, and the grots’ attempt to follow orders meets a threat their usual cunning and their unusually attentive handler cannot simply explain away.
The team sets collecting and gaming goals for the coming year, including expanded Dark Angels, Sylvaneth, cult forces and new kill teams. Their discussion connects planned painting to armies they actually hope to play, showing how a personal challenge can guide both new projects and neglected existing collections.
A new double-purpose challenge sheet allows painting achievements, games played or a combination of both to score progress. Different game sizes and systems join model targets across the grid, broadening the familiar challenge so hobbyists who spend more time gaming can participate alongside prolific painters.
The Dwarfers compare favourite projects and completed-model totals from 2022, with each reflecting on different kinds of progress. Andrew values improved Kruleboyz painting, Ben marks a substantial step up in output and Sophie celebrates her Wolf Kin alongside Russ, making the final scores a record of personal achievements as well as competition.