Wednesday 7 September 2016

Warhammer Wednesday: The New/Old White Dwarf

They say, what's old is new and what's new is old. Well they couldn't have said a truer word about the new White Dwarf Magazine.

I subscribed to White Dwarf for many years, even when I was no longer writing for the Black Library, but when the old monthly split to become Warhammer Visions and the weekly I called it a day. I am not a hobbyist and so Visions did not appeal. I didn't dislike the weekly White Dwarf, it was just that as it was only available in stores, it was too tricky to get hold of on a regular basis.

But now the old monthly mag is back - as the new monthly mag. And as far as I can see, it's a return to form. One of the things I used to like the most about the old incarnation of White Dwarf were the articles about the lore of the Warhammer World and the ones that added depth to the Warhammer 40,000 universe of the 41st millennium. The good news is that elements of those background articles have returned, notably in 'Illuminations' (this month focusing on the Deathwatch) and 'The Ultimate Guide To...' (the Kightly Houses, in this particular issue).





The old familiar favourites are all there, including battle reports and painting guides, but there is also a new section called 'Temporal Distort' which looks back to an old issues of the mag. On this occasion the issue is question is WD202, published in October 1996.




This is the issue that featured the two new armies in the 5th edition of Warhammer - the Lizardmen and the Bretonnians - but it also a memorable one for me for another reason.

In August 1996 I had moved from Nottingham (where I had been doing freelance work for Games Workshop, amongst other things) to live and work in West London. October 1996 found me writing my first short story for Inferno! magazine - fan-favourite 'Salvation'. That first story led to more and more, and then to novels, and, in a big way, to where I am now writing-wise.

So, to sum up, as it says on the cover, the new White Dwarf is bigger and better, and I may just have to renew my subscription.


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