ARTICLE

THIS MONTH IN

Written by: Rodney Desjarlais

WHITE DWARF #292 MAY 2004

The Storm of Chaos campaign is drawing closer and as expected White Dwarf is featuring more and more materials to get us prepared.  This issue's main theme is siege battles, as they will be an important part of the campaign.

Warhammer Siege Battles: An Account of Five Different Siege Games:  This is an amazing article.  It gives mini-battle report of not one but five different siege battles!  They have the Empire defending against the Hordes of Chaos, the Orcs and Goblins defending against the Lizardmen, the Vampire Counts defending against the High Elves, the Skaven defending against the Dwarfs and the Wood Elves defending against the Beasts of Chaos.  Each one is a battle report, although most of them don't tell you what happens on a turn by turn basis (that would take up most of the magazine!).  The illustrations really capture the battles.  

Scenery Workshop: Building Skaven, Vampire Counts and Orc Fortresses: Continuing on with the siege battle theme, this is a how-to article on how to build three different "castles".  As always each gives you a step by step guide to how to build them with many helpful illustrations at each stage.  The Vampire Counts fortress is a conversion of the standard Warhammer Castle available from Games Workshop. The other two are from-scratch creations.  I've never envisioned what a Skaven Fortress would look like so this aspect of the article was incredibly interesting.  The Skaven fortress looks fantastically.....Skaven. If you are preparing for a siege battle and need fortress ideas, this article is a huge resource.

Modeling Workshop: Adding Character and Interest to your Siege Towers:  What a surprise! Another siege article! Yes!  This one is very good. It shows you step by step with great illustrations how to build both a Skaven siege tower (magnificent!) and a Dwarfen siege tower.  Also included are full rules including points costs for both of these constructs as well as the Mud Elemental "siege tower" for the Beasts of Chaos that was featured in the last issue of White Dwarf.  This is another fantastic resource for those building terrain and engines for a siege battle.

Dark Tide Rising: This is a Storm of Chaos article.  The first two pages (one page actually, the other is a huge illustration and the title) give a brief description of the "Forces of Darkness" and "Forces of Light" in the forthcoming Storm of Chaos campaign.  The next two pages show pictures of a few of the amazing new miniatures that will be available for the Storm of Chaos and a picture of an Archaon's Horde army.  On the next two pages is a giant map showing the Northern Wastes and Kislev to the upper right and the heart of the Empire to the lower left.  There are 26 numbered landmarks (mostly cities and fortifications)  all around Middenheim, which is known to be the main objective for the Chaos forces during the campaign.  This map looks like it is meant to be used during the Storm of Chaos campaign.

The Heart of the Storm: Inside this Summer's Worldwide Warhammer Campaign:  This is mostly a summary article giving a brief description of how the Storm of Chaos campaign will work.  Most of this information is basically the same as what you see on the campaign's website.

Preparing for the Storm:  This is the first of a two part article.  It takes a look at how different players within Games Workshop are preparing for the Storm of Chaos.  Adrian Wood shows off his Chaos army.  Graham McNeill is readying his Empire army to defend Middenheim.  Mat Ward is preparing a Demon Legion (which has some very cool pics of Nurgle conversions). Gil Surepi is preparing a Dwarf Slayers army.  Andy Hoare is preparing his Lothern Sea Patrol list. Steve Pritchard is using a Grimgore's 'Ard Boyz army and Matt Hutson is putting together a Dark Elf Cult of Pleasure list.  Each person gives insight into how they are preparing their individual armies.

Dark Pact: Morathi Allies with Slaanesh: This article by Anthony Reynolds tells how the Dark Elves and the forces of Chaos have allied.  If you follow the storylines of the Dark Elves and/or Chaos this is an interesting read.  The article also includes full stats and rules for Morathi the Hag Sorceress, a Dark Elf special character.

Shadows of the Storm: Written by Gavin Thorpe,  this article basically breaks down what's happening in the Storm of Chaos as far as the storyline.  He tells of the Chaos threat, the defense of Middenheim and the relief force that is rallying to it's aid, the situation with Grimgore and his Orcs, what's happening on Lustra and with the Tomb Kings and the Skaven.  This article is a one-stop place to get briefed on the absolute essentials of the storyline elements that are going into the Storm of Chaos campaign.

From Concept to Reality: Designing an Empire Semaphore Tower: Part One:  Steve Cumiskey provides a step by step guide, from design sketches to actually constructing the terrain piece. In this part 1 of the article it concentrates on the design and concept of the model. Next month's part 2 will show us how to actually construct it.  This article series seems to be a plug for the upcoming "How to Make Wargames Terrain" book by Games Workshop.  

A View from the Siege Lines: Middle-earth Under Siege (Lord of the Rings): This is a Lord of the Rings article but it could be very useful to Warhammer players preparing for a siege battle.  It shows how to build a castle with step by step with instructions and also shows various siege works and engine pieces.  It's a good article for getting ideas.