A Month Of Releases & 3 BIG Armies - Warhammer Visions #26

Is it that time again? Yes, Warhammer Visions is upon us, showcasing a month worth of releases, some great armies and a tonne of photos full of inspiration.
There's some good things about this issue, and I'll spell that out as we go along, but in the hope that someone in the void of the internet may be pay attention - some of the photography in this issue is pretty poor.
You may remember that we've touched on this before (weird filters/ bad lighting/ unclear pictures), but for the most part it has improved dramatically after quite a few issues that left a lot to be desired. Unfortunately for the reader, it looks like simple things like poor contrast and white balancing have returned leaving some of the pictures unnecessarily dark or just unclear.
This is people's beloved hobby work we are talking about here and for the photos not to do them justice is a real shame. Don't get me wrong, there are some awesome sections, but you'll see the difference between what is good and what is a mess.
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Thankfully we can start on some positives in this issue of Warhammer Visions - the New Releases section is really nicely done. It's not uncommon to have many repeated images from White Dwarf in this section, but happily there were quite a few images here I hadn't seen before - granted I don't have the books that were released around the Wulfen so maybe they are in there. Beautiful close-ups and action shots with some of the best painted miniatures around. games Workshop really go to town on the Space Wolves and the current painted range is some of the best miniatures they have. Even this section had a few bad shots - the Ulrik The Slayer splash page is so dark it'[s hard to see what is going on!
Also appearing in the New Releases section are Warboss Grukk and his Mob, two Tau characters and the Space Wolf characters from the Wulfen release window.

Ben Ballard's Red Scorpions Space Marine force almost looks like it's the entire Chapter there are so many!
These models, numerous as they are, are full of character and have many different armour marks to bring the history of the Red Scorpions to life. Collected over 3 years, you can see Ben's painting skill improve as he goes along too.

Tom Harrisons' Tyranid models have a great colour scheme and lots of chitinous details. Despite the obvious lighting and filters used during this photoshoot, his models thankfully remain clear and all the details look amazing.

Now here's a Necron force to be feared. Ben Johnson's Necrons sport the current Necron colour scheme, but along the way he has added some really nice touches like the purple/pink to some of the elite choices guns and vehicle weapons. If you're into Necrons, this is a cool force.
Some of these shots do look like they have taken a short spin through Instagram mind you.
#necrons #eternallife #slaancankissmyass #arnieisapussy

Warhammer world held an event called Golden Demon: Tanks last year and here are more of the entries. Painting vehicles can be a bit of a challenge, but obviously not for these participants. We again get a look at John Beech's amazing floating Eldar Warp Hunter.
The Imperial Guard tanks in particular will fill you with inspiration!

Amy Snuggs' Seraphon force gets another look in this month, and unfortunately this is one of the sections with weird lighting. It looks like they have used a yellow lighting effect in some of the shots and it throws Amy's well thought out contrasting colour scheme off. Still great looking.

Now this is a section that should be really great. This is part one in a series looking at all the First Founding Chapters - starting with No. 1 the Ultramarines. Can't wait to see more.
Funny they didn't do this in order and start with the 1st Space Marine Legion, the Dark Angels!

'Eavy Metal this month have some amazing miniatures, including this amazing Tyranid that is so smooth and clean and beautifully painted! As are all 4 in this section actually.
​A little bit of a closer look would have been good!

THIS is what I meant when I meant unclear and badly contrasting with poor white balance. 
What happened here?
These pictures are so dark that details are obscured and have a look at the lens flare on the Imperial Fists tank - the aquila on the front has no detail at all.

Back to some lovely shots in Parade Ground - Steve Bowerman's Blood Angels Terminators and Andy Horsfall's Dark Eldar are just amazing! The use of white on the Dark Eldar really brings them to life and makes them look really different. As a Dark Eldar fan, I love these! The clean lines and the red helmet stripe on the white helmet of those Terminators looks just awesome too. There's also some Ravenwing and two Imperial Knighst that will blow you away in this section.

On a Blanchitsu-style, Tom Harrison's Imperial Knights have this worn almost rusted look to them. So full of character and worthy models to replace the Blanchitsu section this month.

We saw a smaller selection of these in White Dwarf a few weeks ago, but here are the full list of Space Marine Chapters involved in the Horus Heresy with a squad of each lovingly painted by different artists. The Blood Angels and Dark Angels seem to be missing though... 

Parade Ground features many models from the Age of $igmar - it also features some very dark photographs again lacking proper contrasting. Some are very dark and others seem to flare!

Paint Splatter takes you through the Wulfen and also Ulrik The Slayer...

Verdict

Despite some definite highlights, this issue is plagued by some poor photography which really lets it down. If the standard had been as high as the Space Wolf or Golden Deomon: Tanks shots all the way through then this would have been a lovely issue. Equally the shots in Parade Ground (the 1st one) are great too.
The Founding Chapters section is a great idea and I can't wait to see the next months.
Of course it can't be the 2nd Legion because they are expunged from the records....