White Dwarf Issue #97: The Chosen of Archaon

White Dwarf reviews operate differently than other Blood of Kittens Reviews. The goal with these reviews is to place a value for each issue. The rating system is one to four stars, each star represents $1 in value, to a max of four dollars. The review values are also Warhammer 40k based; Age of Sigmar dedicated issues will still be reviewed, but valued for Warhammer 40k players. It means you could see many low valued issues, with the general Games Workshop hobbyist actually valuing more. Keep this in mind when deciding if a particular White Dwarf Issue is good for you.

Contents: New Releases

We get a second week of Age of Sigmar releases, leading the pack are the Knights of Ruin an amazing cavalry unit with a deadly price point. At $100 bucks you get three models for a game you most likely won’t find anyone to play with. Along with the Knights of Ruin is the Chaos Battletome: Everchosen which is details the story of Archeon and his minions. Why you want a book for only a handful of models is beyond me and for $58.00,but if you don’t blink at that price you are also welcomed to the Limited Edition for $200.00! I have to say I really love the art work for the limited edition, too bad like all AoS limited editions it won’t get close to selling out. You can also get an Everchosen Painting Guide and Digital short to go with this release. As for Warhammer 40k, Forge World brings us Solar Auxilia Veletaris with Power Axes. The Warhammer Empire/Imperial Guard hybrid look of these models is fantastic and really showcases something more than just Space Marines for the Horus Heresy. Speaking of the Horus Heresy we get the re-release of the book that started it all Horus Rising now in hardback.

Contents: Paint Splatter

Paint Splatter shows us how to paint the Knights of Ruin in the studio colors; once again I love how they get the mutated flesh, but beyond that there isn’t much else to see.

Contents: Army of the Month

Holy Moley! This edition of army of the month is truly spectacular! The Scions of House Thiel is model orgasm for Titan & Knight lovers.  Roland Underwood chats about his eight worth of collecting has brought him to this point. Using Black Library novels featuring Uriel Ventris and Sergeant Pasanius as inspiration. The largest statement piece is by far the Warlord Titan Ember’s Journey!

Contents: The Knights of Ruin

Here we get a look at how the Knights of Ruin (Varanguard) sit in the armies of Archaon, including the rules for them.

Contents: The Horus Heresy

In a bit of a surprise White Dwarf breaks down the Horus Heresy novel series into a condense and manageable distillation. This is a great introduction into the story of the Heresy; one in which almost all players know the outline of, but not the depth the Black Library has presented. The WD team has nifty flow charts to help novices track the major story arcs going on in the series. Even  experts for the Horus Heresy novels and stories will find this useful.

 Contents: The Week In…

The week in useless information is all Varanguard and is easily skipped.

Next Issue Hint: ‘Eavy Metal and A High-Flying Sorcerer…

Final Verdict

Issue #97 is a little better than last week waste of an issue. The Horus Heresy resource pages are fantastic and at least worth something. The AoS dedication is admirable, but GW would be better served to release multiple models at once not this drip, drip of over-priced one offs.