Official November 2012 White Dwarf Feedback Thread

[Wintermute]

Its time for yet another White Dwarf Feedback thread, this time for the November 2012 issue.

If any of you wish to make more general comments about WD, please will you make them in the General White Dwarf Feedback Thread.

I would like to make a couple of other requests. If you post the score you have given to the current WD on the thread, would you please explain why especially if you have voted 1 or 10. I think this is useful (and interesting) for other WarSeer members reading the thread, it also provides useful feedback for others who read the thread which may include GW Staffers.

The other request is related to the previous one. Do not criticise people for posting their score and views about WD, I believe we are all entitled to voice our opinions without the the fear of them being criticised.

As always, all off-topic posts and spam will be deleted without notice.

Wintermute
The WarSeer Inquisition

[zoggin-eck]

I'm enjoying it enough so far. Some non-studio armies, older models and conversions. Still an incredible amount of space devoted to new releases, but that's just how it is. The aren't in the dark with a red light, like last time

Lots of writer and sculptor thoughts on new models. I reckon the mangler squig being chosen as a "hall of fame" model is a big set-up, though. A lack of Lotr stuff two months on is kind of annoying, regardless of how many people cry "oh, Lotr? Boring). A few "last hurrah" articles on-par with the earlier Lotr stuff would have been nice before the Hobbit comes along.

The magazine feels very "samey" to me. Perhaps it's the new format, but it feels so much like last months. Still better than some of the recent ones. Worth the handful of dollars it costs, and was better value than the lunch I ate while skimming through it. If it gets another couple of afternoons out of me, while cooking tea or whatever, then I'll be happy.

Back cover is totally boring!

[duffybear1988]

When it couldn't get much worse... It did.

This month I was hoping for something a little special. After the big deal last month I wanted to like WD again. Last issue wasn't great, but it was a start and I thought it might be a sign that things would improve. Well prepare to be disappointed.

The first thing I noticed was that the fold out pages had been glued in! Not something you expect from a magazine that costs £5.50.
Then you get bombarded with 50 pages of new releases which basically boil down to 'buy this now'. Also take note of the Finecast updates! Paraphrasing George Foreman here but this is pretty much the GW way of thinking - We're so proud of it we stuck a tenner on it!

Next we get to the prices page... 40 quid for 2 water pots and a cutting board on a tray...

After that we get an average looking empire army. At least it wasn't the normal eavy metal empire army though.

Oh goody 2 pages of Jervis (skip) - Bring back Chapter Approved you old miser!

Conversion corner was ok, nothing great really, if they want to show conversions then shouldn't they show you how they did it or at least list bits used?

Battle report was as interesting as watching paint dry. The layout really doesn't help at all. Why can't we have maps and a proper turn by turn layout like the good old days.

Next up some tanks, no real reason why. Pointless.

There is a good article on salt weathering!!! It's the only thing that stopped me giving it a 2 to be honest.

After that its the usual mumbo jumbo, article from Blanche was ok, as was talking to the authors (the only people I still respect in the GW universe).

Very mediocre and for the price it shouldn't be... Not sure what previous voters are thinking giving it high scores? What were they comparing it too? I was comparing it to the 90's and early 2000's magazines. They must have been comparing it to Women's Weekly.

Also when will GW learn that many of us would rather have updated rules for old units, than get new rules for unwanted units... I mean it's not exactly as if Chaos are already lacking cavalry is it? My Brets, Woodies, Tau, Sisters and Eldar are weeping in a cupboard somewhere.

I can safely say that unless it improves in the next 6 months I won't be renewing my subscription. There are just too many photos, and not enough content worth reading.

And finally - where is the Lord of the Rings stuff? Surely 1 article could have been included, just axe JJ.

[Orrinocco]

I've been scoring at 2 or less a month for ages. THis was a vast improvement. Hobby articles I actually felt like reading! 7 this month

[violenceha]

I felt like the biggest letdown this month were the new miniatures, hard to compare the magazine with that kind of handicap.

[DarkMark]

I gave a solid 3 for this month's offering. A few pluses such as kit bashed, a decent painted army, the ultimate skull board, and none of that red lighting nonsense. A few wishy-washy articles, and we're done for this edition. Glad I only read this at the library, and didn't pay for it.

[Jadawin]

I havent read all of the mag yet but it was obviously done before the recent FAQ regarding monstrous cavalry. They go on and on about the warshrine giving the Skullcrushers T5 in the battle report when as we now know they have T5 anyway, they do make themselves look like numpties at times.

[EmperorNorton]

I would have liked to buy White Dwarf today, to check out the WoC coverage and the new format in general.
Problem is: I couldn't. It so happened I came by the biggest news agent in town today, but they didn't have the new issue in yet and the old issue still on the shelf. When I asked about it the sales lady there explained to me that it never gets delivered in time.
Kinda hard not to let my spark of enthusiasm be quashed by that.
I'll try again on Tuesday. If I don't find it on there then I'll skip it.

[The bearded one]

Skimming through it, I'm holding by my original thought that it definately improved, particularly after the disastrously poor issues of the past year or so. Skimming through it I thought Jeremy Vetock's little chat on page 102-103 was oddly useful, concerning him going for pick-up games in some local stores after his gaming group started to splinter. Also pretty nice interviews in the back with BL authors, and pictures of work in progress (greens) of the new imperial trenches. It's still not a wonder mag of course, but there are acceptably interesting things to read, and I'm definately gonna be spending more time browsing through these new ones, than I did with the past 12 or so.

[zoggin-eck]

I must say, though, Australians missing out on the Chaos update was a bit of a let-down. The bloke in the store didn't mention it, and magazine is still in a plastic wrap, so I assumed it was in there. Getting a "Gift Guide" wasn't quite as useful, I'm afraid! I'm assuming we'll see it next month?

Wow, duffybear1988, I don't think it's the best magazine around, or as good as it once was, but that's nowhere near how I saw it! (And I loved the Empire army....)

[superdupermatt]

@DarkMark, instead of the red light, they used a blue light on the warriors of chaos pictures! There is a definite blue tint on the go. Looks as rubbish as it sounds people.

[DarkMark]

After the red light special last month anything less in your face was appreciated!

I can't remember, but did they use the new paints in any articles? I'd really liked to have seen a dedicated article that put the colours to use. We got endless pages of the other releases, but only a box picture for a similar priced product of 46€. The chaos crowd would naturally be interested in the models, where as everyone would want to know about new painting products surely?

[Haravikk]

I'm really unhappy with this month's White Dwarf. I like the new production quality of the magazine, but there's just no fecking content anymore! There's so much wasted space, such as the separate pages for pricing, when there's ample room on the new release pages themselves, and the descriptions alongside new releases are just someone typing out what they see when they look at the model; last I checked that's why we have the damned pictures!

I mean, you're a full 48 pages into the magazine before you've passed the new releases (plus waffling about them) section, at which point you get a two page spread telling you yet again to buy stuff. After that we get six pages about someone's army, which is all we get on the "White Dwarf Daily" blog anyway. It's only at this point (nearly 60 pages in) that we get something approaching an article. Then we get Hall of Fame and Parade Ground, which are both essentially just more pages of "buy these models too" mixed with White Dwarf Daily style show-casing. After this we have the Kit Bash section, which I was hopeful for, but only seems to be aimed at people with more money than sense, or who have somehow managed to accumulate the right mixture of bits, there's nothing practical, especially when some of the bits they've kit-bashed are crucial to the kits they come from, rather than things you might actually have spare. After this it's the Realm of Skull Battle Awesome Skulls Extreme edition while, though it might be an entertaining board to see at Games Day, isn't very interesting at all (you know, skulls? We've seen those before somewhere… no wait, I mean everywhere), and certainly not something many hobbyists are going to go out a replicate considering it'd cost a fortune, yet it somehow warrants a full six pages even though the first photo shows off pretty much everything? After that you come to the only thing that seems to be worth looking at, which is the painting guides, at which point you're basically done reading because after that it's Facebook, the unnecessary 10 page list of GW stores (I can't imagine anyone relies on their copy of White Dwarf for up to date store lists anymore), and several pages of "get down to your local store" which is what I do anyway. Then there's a page to subscribe to White Dwarf (which is how I get mine, seriously considering cancelling it though) followed by stuff happening at White Dwarf and Forge World which, though somewhat interesting, isn't really all that substantial.

I know this will come across as a lot of whining, but the White Dwarf magazine had already become pretty awful before this update to the new format, and while I like the style of the new format there is absolutely nothing in the magazine worth picking up a copy for. You get pretty much everything you need from the free blog on the web-site, which has all the same endless pictures of other people's armies and more than enough info about any new releases. I'm not sure who at GW decided that it should cost £5.50 to get all the same info you can get for free, but they're probably laughing their head off; I mean the web-site even posted the front cover of this week's White Dwarf on Friday, so it's not like you even find out about new releases a day sooner for your £5.50!

I mean, what happened to the White Dwarf magazine that had fun rules and scenarios to liven up games (as opposed to simply selling the latest product) along with articles on how to scratch-build scenery not currently in GW's lineup? I mean the DIY articles alone were invaluable for people who still want to get the most out of the hobby but can't afford to buy all official scenery. And where are the kit bash articles that actually show how to get the most out of your spare bits? Some quick guides with a list of kits you might have bought, showing you how to combine their spares into something new or use them to customise another model, these would provide value. As it is the only "articles" we get are a handful of decent painting guides, a battle report and some thoughts on the hobby. I think my money is better spent on the few models I can still afford to buy anymore. Especially when White Dwarf daily has all the same new releases and model show-cases, with the same utter lack of proper articles, and at a much more reasonable price.

[Thuggrim]

OK 2, after my generous 7 for potential last week I can clearly see this is an excercise in style with no substance, its not going to improve in fact its already getting worse. Brought it for the warriors update, which I then found was a leaflet of lower production value then my local pizza place drops through my door and was considerably smaller. No real update here just stats for 2 new units. Other chaos related material was...... no that was about it I had expectations of a deamon style update. No painting guides, no discussion of units, and a unrevealling designers notes. Well it did clarify why I cannot stand the shrine - 3 designers who evidently didn't talk as it a lot of nice elements making a insiped whole.

To the rest of the magazine - well battle report was 2 guys chatting about what happened as it was impossible to follow or see how the battle unfolded. The painting section aside from the salt weathering was even less useful that last months. er what else was in there .... Oh scenary showcase a mild improvement on last weeks. Jervis and blanche and vetock waffling - Jervis neatly dodging the issue that the reason a lot of tournaments use comp is to try readdress the balance lacking from their games. More glossy, lighting and background effect heavy photography - stop it, it adds nothing. Oh and new releases - which despite occupying a 3rd of the magazine (Which is also 15 pages shorter - 10% less in a month not a good trend) somehow leaves me lacking details on the new basing kits and possible layouts for the lovely but overpriced wall/trench thingy. but does give me a massive close up of 9 new paint pots and full page spreads of old models redone in fine crap. On that issue if your re-releasing Belakor give him some rules.

So last white dwarf I pick up, unless they start giving away cool models, updates be damned I will wait for a new book and not buy the new models I don't see why I should be 'taxed' the cost of a substandard mag to get rules for new stuff.

[Haravikk]

and full page spreads of old models redone in fine crap.

I completely forgot about that part; how Scyla Anfingrimm got a full three pages for an update of what is one of the worst models of all time into a worse material, is completely bewildering. Like you say, the basing kits are far more interesting as a hobbyist (as opposed to a walking wallet without free will, which seems to be the White Dwarf's target demographic) but only got a tiny corner of a page that shows almost nothing. And the trench-works, which has to be a huge kit, was shown off very poorly; the main image of it has a dark, muddy trench line placed onto pure white snow! It doesn't look right at all seeing as how there's no hint of snow on the model itself.

[jonthebetrayer]

50 or so pages of the obligatory (must buy now or the world ends) new releases, 10 pages of where to buy said releases ( I know where I can buy it thank you, in any hamlet,village,town,city or sprawling metropolis and everywhere in between) I wish someone what shut Jervis Johnson up, he bores me to tears. John Blanche was vaguely interesting. the only thing I enjoyed was the article on using salt as way of weathering vehicles. 3 from me

[Kaiserjez]

I bought the ipad version. It's ok but like a lot of posters above I thought it was lacking in any real content. The salt weathering thing was ok but needed to go into more detail. And when you do a step by step article on how to do something it would probably help if the picture of the finished article was actually the one being worked on in the previous photos.
And the battle report was absolutely useless. Proper maps and a turn by turn run through are needed, otherwise what's the point?

[zak]

Like many others I gave last months issue a cautious thumbs up with a score of 7. This month dive bombed horribly. The first 50 pages were a waste. If it had some actual content about the miniature design or concept then it may be useful, but instead it was a 'buy this now' fest. Sadly very little content after that. The battle report last issue was great, although I agree that the layout isn't great. This time the army choice for the ogres was a complete joke. Why take a bloody giant? A thunder tusk would have been far better. Just two Mournfangs. Why not take six and hit the Juggers. At least that would have been mildly interesting. The article relating to the collection of the Empire army was too short. Get rid of a few pages of useless information about the stores and expand these types of articles. Why not put the store info at the back and reduce the font size so it can fit on 2-3 rather than 10 pages. The actual quality of the paper is better, shame about the fold outs being glued in. Overall a poor 4 for me. I really hope it improves. It had so much potential what with the release of the new models, but it ended as a wasted opportunity. Rant over!

[duffybear1988]

Anyone else hate how dark the photos are in the latest mag? I wasn't keen on the red tinted ones from the October issue, but they are even worse in that blue hue.

[Marked_by_chaos]

Big let down this month Voted it a 4.

As highlighted in the review on Tale of Painters there was a circa 16 page reduction in page count and it shows.

I still prefer the new format visually with the exception of some of the photography. Although people have expressed relief at the absence of red light we have blue instead. My money is on sepia for the Hobbit next month.

As for the contents, assuming you skip the first 50 pages, which are admittedly better than the old release sections there is not a great deal in this months white dwarf.

The end section which is one of the best bits could do with being brought forward into the magazine.

The army, tank and blanchitsu showcases were quite nicely done but are more of an extra feature and you need a few meatier articles to go with them.

I quite enjoyed the battle report, even in the absence of maps.

The battlefield, kitbash and paint splatter were ok. A couple of tips, particularly the salt weathering technique.

Problem - no real meat in this issue. You have the proportionately very large new release section and then most of the other pages were essentially devoted to glorified gallery features. Nice in a coffee table-esqe sense but no real keeper articles.

I went back through my old colection of white dwarf mags a while back and made a few files from the better articles. I guess I would rate the mags/articles in terms of whether i would add them to those files. From this month I would probably only maybe add the army showcase, battlefield and blanchitsu articles; and then only to the inspiration file. Nothing for the painting or gaming files sadly.

BRING BACK 'EAVY METAL