White Dwarf Issue #90: For the Greater Good!

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

This week we get an impressive amount of new releases, with new Fire Warriors, campaign box set bundles, and the limited Tidewall Rampart fortification. New Fire Warriors have arrived with familiar poses, but new helmets, host of new weapons, and toys. The kit can make two different units, the Strike or Breacher Team. The new Fire Warriors are pretty interesting, but it is the access to new drones and DS8 tactical support turret makes them really stand out. I had visions of many a RTS, picturing the support turret falling from the sky to the tabletop.

The next release is the Shadow Force Solaq and Infiltration Cadre Burning Dawn. These are box sets opening a new campaign in the War Zone Damocles. These box sets are different from the previous two 7th ed campaign starters. Think a starter box broken into two, players get choice, but at great cost. That is the problem with these sets, the only savings come with the unique character models. Now, the Raven Guard Captain and Tau Ethereal look great, but is it worth getting the other units you might not use beyond the campaign? Speaking of the campaign, each set comes with a book, with identical missions, with only fluff changes between them. I am just not sure where the real value is with these sets, unless you are just a collector. It is also a shame you don’t get the new Fire Warriors with the Tau set.

Next we get the jaw dropping kit Tidewall Rampart this multi-fortification kit! The blue plastic shield walls, Railgun turret, tons of parts, and scale all look impressive. The construction of the kit also gives the illusion it is floating above the table, and the rules confirm the thing moves! This is a limited edition kit, which means it will sell out by the time this post goes live, but remember you will be able to buy it in parts soon. If you haven’t seen this kit I suggest you go check the GW site for all the pics.

We also see the release of some Age of Sigmar novels, which I am sure not many people are rushing to pre-order. New Tau Transfer sheets are also available, with a hidden preview of the new types of Battlesuits coming next week. Finally, Forge World introduces the new Raven Guard Mor Deythan Strike Squad; these super snipers look awkward, with bland sniper rifles.

Contents: Paint Splatter

This issue of paint splatter has how to paint some Fire Warriors, the color pallet are the same as the Ghostkneel from last issue, but you get the added detail of how to paint Tau Skin and trick for painting Tau Eyes as well.

Contents: Parade Ground

Parade Ground shows off an alternative color pallet for some Age of Sigmar Stormhost models. They are not very spectacular, but the dragon dog paint job is very nicely done.

Contents: Operation Ghostkneel

This is exclusive mission for the Tau Empire, using your newly assembled and painted Ghostkeel. This is actually a creative mission, it doesn’t require many models and has a patrol element similar to the Assassin game released early this year. The objective is for the Tau player to destroy an ammo dump or all the defenders. The defenders just have to raise an alarm and kill the Tau. The Tau are badly out-numbered so they have to nimbly sneak by the defender forces or pick off a unit one at a time. The only problem with the mission is making sure the defender doesn’t have super powerful units, so finding the right balance is problematic.

Contents: Golden Demon

The White Dwarf showcase of Golden Demon winner John Beech’s Eldar Warp Hunter is glorious. The model is expertly done, but the big wow factor comes from it floating in air! John used magnets of course, but more impressive it can be turned off and on to rise above the base. This is also John’s first time using battle damage on a Eldar model.

Contents: Armies on Parade

Armies on Parade has a Joe Naber showcasing his Blood Angels, WD does a good job avoiding shots of the actual Blood Angels, which look very average, but the Tower below is a great show piece.

Contents: The Rules – The Breacher Team

Here we get the rules for the Fire Warrior Breacher Team, showcasing the new options available to Fire Warriors. The Support turret rules are really fun, with it dropping down, but immobile so your Tau have to stay near it to use. The Breacher Team also uses a Pulse Blaster which like the many of the new Tau weapons is more devastating the closer an enemy gets. It seems pretty clear, Tau Assault defense comes with Overwatch/Supporting Fire combos. There is also rules for a new class of Drone called the Guardian Drone, which gives the unit an invulnerable save.

Contents: This Week in White Dwarf

In this portion of useless filler, has some insight into Tau pulse technology and Ethereal history. The next issue hint is pretty straight forward, and I am sure most of you have seen the leaks by now anyway.

Next Issue: We have a Crisis on our Hands! Time for the Patient Hunter…

Final Verdict

Issue #90 is a good WD issue, with spectacular new releases. The Fire Warriors and Tau Fort are the highlights, with the new box sets falling short.

The exclusive mission is pretty cool taking a page from Age of Sigmar missions as well.