White Dwarf Issue 7 – Knights, Daemons & Apocalypse

White Dwarf Weekly 7 arrived!

When I heard this weeks release was a 40K Apocalypse campaign supplement, I was a bit torn. I love campaign books, but Apocalypse still hasn’t really entered my gaming.

I still don’t know if I’d ever buy War Zone: Damocles, but this weeks White Dwarf is surprisingly good, not least because it is a bit more diverse, with a bit for “everyone”, than previous issues of White Dwarf Weekly!

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#1 – War Zone: Damocles

I have an odd love-hate relationship with these Apoc supplements. I really love good campaigns, like the one provided in the Iyanden Supplement.

I rather hate all those Apoc Formations, mostly because I don’t play Apoc and they seem like a waste of (preciously little 68 pages of) space. This one comes with 15 Apocalypse Datasheets, which is 15 out of 68 pages that aren’t for me.

Admittedly, I am not the audience for this one. If you are, this may well be interesting for you.

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#2 – Rules for Flamers

One of the innovations of the new White Dwarf formats is the return of rules (or rule teasers, if you’re nitpicking).

This week, we get rules for Exalted Flamers of Tzeentch for both 40K and Warhammer Fantasy. To be fair, I wasn’t aware they were missing, but here they are.

Similar to the rules for the Imperial Knights a few week ago, you’re missing all the bureaucratic detail on FoC, etc… that you would find in a Codex/Army Book. On the other hand, these rules certainly are enough to put an Exalted Flamer on the table to try it out, before paying for a full Codex, etc…

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#3 – The Third Expansion

Finally, there is an interesting little article on the background of the Tau Empire’s Third Expansion, which obviously is the backdrop for this weeks Apocalypse War Zone: Damocles release!

It’s a “background article” in the White Dwarf, complete with a fun little “Heroes of Damocles” sidebar! Hurray!

Loved this one.

Admittedly, it’s written in an odd, somewhat stilted “interview-style” of the White Dwarf staff interviewing Simon Grant. I would have preferred a straight write-up, but it works for me.

I am definitely warming up the the Damocles campaign after reading this one. I wish they’d do a non-Apocalypse version of War Zone Damocles, in other words, perhaps a ”story-only” version, or better yet, one with missions for smaller ~ 1.000 to 1.500 pts. 40K missions (and the odd Kill Team scenario) woven into the story).

There is a Black Library anthology coming out to go with the War Zone: Damocles book, so maybe I’ll take a look at that one.

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#4 – A Little for Everyone

The main reason I liked this issue is the fact that it feels quite diverse. I mostly talked about Damocles, which is the main release of this week. Still, there are also

• A Paint Splatter on Helbrutes, an ‘Eavy Metal Helbrute article, and an announcement for Helbrute Datasheet (background only, I think)
• An Apocalypse Tactics article
• An Imperial Knights Apoc Datasheet
• A Jeremy Vetock column on explaining “the Hobby” to non-Hobbyists
• And …. drum rolls … a Hall of Fame on a Hobbit miniature (they still exist!)

Remember that the White Dwarf Weekly still is only 30-odd pages, so the amount of variety they managed to squeeze in there is surprising. There’s more content here than in many of the old 100+ pages White Dwarfs from last year.

Let me know what you think!

Z.