I'd say a decent way to start February is with a timely review of said month's White Dwarf issue...
But is the February White Dwarf a decent way to start the month? Lets take a look.
New Releases this month is dominated by the new Warriors of Chaos. Considering my extremely limited experience with Fantasy is dominated by Ogres, I'm not so sure I've got a huge interest in this release.
Until I begin to think of the possibilities for 40K conversions that could utilize these new kits. Makes a guy really want to play Chaos sometimes, you know? I have some favorites among the releases, but the two I absolutely love are the Dragon Ogres, and Throgg. While Throgg may never have a real place in my plan for Eastern-Themed Ogres, the Dragon Ogres very well might as a counts-as Mournfang Cavalry. We'll have to see. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the new line of figures are very nicely detailed, and will benefit anyone who is a loyal collector and player of the line. I just think in terms of 40K too much.
Army of the Month features Paul Gayner's Space Marine army, the Crimson Heralds. Paul isn't on the White Dwarf team, a designer for Forge World, nor is he employed by GW in any way I can find. He's a teacher who enjoys himself some Space Marines. This feature has redeemed itself...for the month of February at least. Paul is one who I would say has the "Collector's Syndrome", and is concentrating very well on this singular army, adding unit after unit as he wants to. I admire that, and aspire to do so myself with my upcoming Salamaders and Tau.
Battleground gets its own mention this month 'round as it features Armies on Parade. Some seriously stellar examples of what can be done with some honest creativity and hard work. Eye candy abounds.
Jervis, Jeremy and John. Mr. Blanche this month continues with his assault on my willpower with regards to INQ28. Only this time, he features an amazing warband by a fellow hobbyist that highlights conversions, wonderful painting and just overall jealously-inducing envy. I want a warband like this now. Expect a post in the near future on INQ28 and inspirations for it. Jervis writes to entreat us all to stop listening to those who would influence our hobby with their own opinions. He also encourages us to hobby with a goal of our own happiness, not what the latest hot Internet WAAC list is. Jeremy...talks about buying citadel hills and terrain to cause he doesn't want to waste time and build his own. Mr. Vetock, if you happen to read this review, please look to your fellow columnists for inspiration for your next article. I don't need to read a commercial for how great the Citadel Hills are, I would rather read a thought-provoking article like Jervis', or a hobby-inspiring one like John's.
Kit Bash this time around had a couple solid goes at a literal interpretation of its name. The majority of the article is filled with straight-up kit bashes. Some nice, and some a mish-mash of somewhat random kits, just picking what parts would be cool to use. Mind you, that's what kit bashing is all about, so I won't complain too much.
Paint Splatter...is quickly becoming a sore sight for sore eyes in this magazine. Dangit. I'll continue to hold out hope that we'll get a good solid feature eventually, but this one isn't it. The examples of a finished technique in how to paint the flesh of chaotic models of different color don't even look finished! The one bright shining star of this article is a feature by Paul from Army of the Month, where he details out how he paints script and text to detail his banners and army with.
Parade Ground continues its dominance of the kingdom of eye candy with more Golden Demon winners. Honestly, what more can I say than that? I now have two issues with a bucketful of wonderful and inspiring eye candy to look at and digest.
Well folks, the beginning of February marks two things for me, one, this review, and two, the restart of actual hobby time for me. I'm finishing up a huge cartooning commission this weekend, and can't wait to dive back into my little army men.
- Tim
Great review, Tim! Agreed on all points.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the new chaos release, here are a couple of thoughts and ideas on the matter, in case you are interested:
http://eternalhunt.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/chaos-fantasy/
"I want a warband like this now. Expect a post in the near future on INQ28 and inspirations for it."
Thank God! If PDH's models hadn't made you see sense, I would have been at the end of my rope, trying to talk you into building INQ28 stuff ;-)
Regarding the painting tips, I would argue that GW will never make people happy with any kind of painting tutorials they publish: Make it too basic, and the more talented folks won't like it. Publish professional tutorials, and it'll be too high-concept for beginners. I think the problem here is that the best place for beginners to learn new painting tips nowadays is really the Internet, because you get to choose a blog or artist that shares your personal outlook on painting and then work from there, while tutorials published in WD will always have to compromise in that regard. They should just drop these altogether, if you ask me...
All in all, while a couple of naysayers are claiming WD is just as bad as ever, I think the new format has lots and lots of neat hobby ideas, if you care to look.
Looking forward to your next update!
Tim, I need to see some pictures of what you are bringing to Adepticon! I need to see some good stuff to help motivate me to get my work done.
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