Well let's have a look shall we?
The first thing that will jump out at you (if you are a subscriber that is) is the new full cover art, with the banner, price and headings all gone, in fact only the title remains and even that has been rendered in a translucent gloss effect. Quite simply it looks the nuts and I can't wait to see what other issues look like in this subscriber exclusive format.
Of course they always say that you cannot judge a mag by it's cover and the normal version of the mag looks externally very similar anyway. So it's time to turn the page.
The first thing you might notice is that the White Dwarf team is a LOT smaller, now numbering half a dozen blokes. Two of those are Photographers.
The guest editorial goes some way to explaining, saying that the magazine has moved back into the design studio. This is evident throughout the magazine as its focus has changed considerably.
Gone are the more esoteric and random features, which could turn up at any point in the mag and were frequently swapped about, this is a much more structured presentation. It's also a much more streamlined and focused one and actually if anything even more resembles it's high end peers which go for around the same price point.
As mentioned, the mag is far more structured now with each game having its own section and all the articles for that game falling within that section. This keeps everything a bit more coherent as you are not constantly flipping through pages to find the content for your chosen game.
However, contents wise, one of the FIRST things that you will notice is that there are no new release/preorder dates or prices. Not one. You could argue that this is a good thing, after all, they took up a good dozen pages and that is now space that can be used for articles. Besides Warhammer Community seems to have that kind of thing covered (ok not so much the prices) but the prices in WD had been noticeably inaccurate anyway. Possibly as a result of it's three month lead time
The magazine is bookended by studio sections including the letters page and Vox Chatter along with readers models. These literally go right up to the inside of the back cover. Every bit of space is utilised although the page count is the same overall as the previous edition of the mag.
The pages feel higher quality too, glossy and thicker, the overall impression conveying a high end magazine as said before. Despite this the magazine is no thicker than before and if anything seems to have slimmed in profile though I do not have an old copy kicking about to compare it to at the moment.
So after your letters and readers models you have a nice little article from Phil Kelly where he talks about building the lore in the studio. This is the first hint of the change in course for the mag which is only reinforced as you continue to read.
The Age of Sigmar section is next, the banner at the top of the page turning from yellow/orange to a deep crimson to mark the change. The contents of this section are laid out at the top along with a generic double picture of a Mortal Relams battle scene in what seems to add as a front page for this section. Turning the page once again you are greeted with a welcome return: Fiction in the pages of White Dwarf! This is a short tale about a Kharadon expedition that takes a turn for the worse, its a great example of a short story that ties in well to what Phil was taking about just a few pages earlier. Jervis is back after that with another four pages where he waxes lyrical regarding the FAQ process for AOS. It's good to have him back and the article is interesting and insightful.
John Bracken (so that's where he went) is up next as he presents six new missions for AOS Skirmish which has been positively forgotten about since Kill Team. I don't play it so cant say more but it's a nice chunk of rules content and not the last by a long shot.
Next up is a double spread Start Collecting box advert before we head into a modelling article on Ashqy, The Realm of Fire. There's some really great stuff here with painting ideas, conversion ideas and basing examples all designed to represent this Mortal Realm. Really great stuff and I cant wait to see more like this in the future.
Another quick double page ad for Hobby tools and paint app is next before we get a featured army, an awesome Nurgle/Skaven force with some top class conversions, lots of painting guides and insight from the creator. This large article takes us to over a third through the total page count.
Nightvault is next up, as the banner turns to green and we get four pages on the game boards and possible tactics you can utilise with the different layouts. then it's kill Team (orange topped) for four pages on a Kroot Kill Team. Six pages of illuminations takes us to the mid point in the mag and a painting article from Darren Latham, probably one of the best miniature painters there is at the moment. This looks like this may be a regular feature (it's called the Pinnacle of Painting' and once again it's four pages. It's good but doesn't really function as a guide. Golden Daemon is next. these last three pages articles have all gone back to the generic golden yellow banner.
Golden Daemon is the same as it always was, and is 8 pages. Then its the Heavy Metal Challenge. AOS themed, again same as the old. Some lovely work within though, very inspiring.
40k is next, and again its a fiction piece first, focusing on the War on Vigilus. Robin Cruddace is next, taking about 40k rules.
Then it's the PROPER return of Index Astartes as we get loads of background along with some new rules including stratagems and relics for the Imperial Fists successor chapter. This Crimson Fist theme continues through the army showcase which is just the studio army and paint splatter (still no new releases being mentioned once again you notice)
The section is rounded out by the battle report which is between Catachans and Knights against an Eldar Coalition. It's a super tactical game between two experience competitive players. It's a good read and features old school drawn maps, giving you a good idea of what is going on. The last couple of pages are rounded out by more studio chatter.
and that's your lot! It's a noticeably different focus from previous, even though much has remained the same. It's 146 pages cover to cover and that includes:
30 Pages of Age of Sigmar
40 Pages of 40k
around 12 pages of 'other games' ( expect this to change a lot between the myriad games that GW offer)
And the rest is Studio stuff. Golden Daemon, that kind of thing.
There are noticeably less adverts in the mag, probably about 4 of five double pages and some of the content really is very good. It's much more focused on the main principles of the hobby, Gaming, Painting and Modelling and Background. The return of fiction pieces is a welcome return that I have long wished for and there is a noticeable increase on emphasis on DOING rather than selling (adverts notwithstanding)
Overall it's a great mag improved and while I might miss the more esoteric bits like Temporal distort for the heady nostalgia, I cannot argue that there is more worth in the content that has replaced them. The increased new rules content should also prove far more popular and is a shrewd way to increase readership. This might just be the mightiest version of WD since the Fat Bloke days.....
