Review: White Dwarf Warhammer Visions #6 July 2014

July’s issue of Warhammer Visions hits the shelves today and I have great news. If you’ve been reading White Dwarf Weekly you’ll already be aware that I’ve been playing through the Hobbit scenarios with Dan Harden and my friend Cat. Now my collection is featured in this month’s issue of Warhammer Visions.  Read on for a full review.

I’ll briefly introduce Warhammer Visions If you’re new to it. Warhammer Visions is roughly A5 in size. It’s a full colour magazine with 228 pages including a foldout section. It’s a coffee table style art book of Citadel Miniatures.  There aren’t any articles, just the odd caption alongside some of the pictures. The captions are written in three different languages (English, French and German). It’s a monthly Magazine and is available from Games Workshop Stores, Most Newsagents (in the UK, not sure about abroad) and as a subscription. Warhammer: Visions is available to download for iPad and Apple computers from the Apple iBookstore.

This month’s magazine is all about the new Ork release. It features all the Ork models that have been released recently. It’s actually quite nice to have all the pictures in one place. It makes it a nice one stop shop for reference material for the latest models. Some of the pictures are recycled from the Weekly magazines which is a shame if you’ve already bought those. As well as the Ork releases there are two models from Forge World that get some nice big pictures. The Mechanicum Cerastus Knight Lancer and the Dread Saurians. 

Straight after that and into the Army of the Month section. This month is different. It’s a collection of models from a single game system instead of an actual army. As I’ve already mentioned they’re my models. It’s every Hobbit model I own in a 16 page photo extravaganza. Sadly some of the pictures are reused from White Dwarf Weekly but a large proportion are new. Now if you don’t like the Hobbit Strategy Battle Game then you’ll probably skip this section. However the Hobbit community has been crying out for some Hobbit models to grace the pages of White Dwarf for some time now. I’m really happy that White Dwarf are addressing this. I hope they continue to feature more. 

The next Section is a Parade Ground; 50 pages of gorgeously painted Golden Demon entries and winners from Games Day Cologne. This is one of the best features of Warhammer Visions. This is giving kudos to the painters at the very top of their game. I think that can only be a good thing. Collecting these magazines every month means I’ve got a fantastic reference library of Golden Demon painters all in one place.

Next we are greeted with a new section called Eavy Metal. 8 pages showing 4 Ork Freebooterz painted by the eavy metal team. Very cool inspirational set of pictures, sadly I’ve seen some of these already in White Dwarf Weekly. I’d like to see this feature every month though.

Next is the weakest feature of the magazine although this month it’s different and slightly better. usually it’s a battle report without words and maps. This month however it’s just a background story recreated with staged photos. The Battle of Blood Pine Woods sees Karl Franz lead his Empire army to battle against the Goblin Spider Claw tribe. Great photography but never going to be as good a full battle report with lots of pictures and maps. I miss those days!

Kitbash is all about my favourite 40k race: Tyranids! Lot of pictures of models from around the studio, however the models are barely converted. The article should be renamed weapon/head swaps. Some flashes of brilliance (Keith Robertson’s shortened venom cannons, Leigh Woosey’s space marine being digested inside a Mawloc and Nick Bayton’s Old One Carnefex being blasted in the eye by a plasma pistol) but generally it’s just weapon swaps. I’m not even sure if Jes Bickham’s Tyranid Warrior is converted? Just seems to have a dead marine on the base. Sadly this section is over shadowed by the quality of the Golden Demon and Eavy Metal sections. 

Armies on Parade displays three incredible boards and armies from Games Day Birmingham UK. I feel the Kitbash section could have been shorter and this section could have been longer. 

Blanchitsu is back and this time John Blanche is sharing Jake Ozga’s Inquisitor retinue. The “John Blanche” style seems popular with many a painter and there has been a steady stream of painters in this section  since it was introduced. Some nice conversion from Jake. His Vindicare is bt far my favourite. 

Paint Splatter is a collection of paint recipes (not quite painting guides as there are no instructions or techniques) on how to paint your new Ork models. Useful, but recycled from the White Dwarf Weekly Magazines. Nothing new. 

Finally we get the store listings and contact details, an advert for White Dwarf Weekly and a Parting shot image which is randomly Tomb Kings.  

Conclusion

White Dwarf Visions is the book you buy if you’re a painter and love owning books of gorgeously painted models. It’s also the book you buy if you’re army is released that month. It’s a lovely addition to the Codex of your chosen army. If you do buy it every month, you’ll probably find yourself going back to it regularly. I’ve been checking out my Imperial Knight issue several times for inspiration to paint my Imperial Knight.

The downside is the recycled pictures and paint splatter. Even my Army of the Month feature reused pictures from White Dwarf Weekly. Is it a struggle to fill 228 pages every month with original content? Maybe it is. They could always take out the repetition and put some words in it 😉 I’m a little annoyed by the repetition because I’ve already spent £12 on five Ork issues of White Dwarf Weekly. 

A generous 6.5 out of 10. I like the art book style with the minimum words. It’s a nice magazine that works well with White Dwarf Weekly.  It would have scored higher if it had a proper battle report with maps and if it was 100% original content.

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