 | In case you weren't aware, Warhammer: Visions has changed and last month I was concerned that they would change the size, but not build on any of the feedback coming from the community. Being reasonably fair minded I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and despite the bookshelf now no longer having a neat line of Warhammer: Visions issues, maybe this change of size would give them scope to change a few things - effectively relaunch themselves. How often does a premium magazine (and for $13 it is premium) have the opportunity to do that? So glancing through the issue I was quite pleased to see they have kept the large glossy images, the spotlight on people's armies and Blanchitsu. It wasn't until I had a good look I realised that they haven't changed anything! This is the same magazine with the same issues they have had pretty consistently for 16 months, but that's not all... + + More After The Jump + + |
So for comparison, here's the new Warhammer Visions (notice the ":" has gone), this week's White Dwarf and last month's Warhammer: Visions. There is a sizeable difference!
Having a look through the front, nothing has changed in terms of layout.
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The front of this month's issue is, as usual, New Releases which spotlights the Skitarii, the Ironstriders, the two Sicarian units and the Onager (which I'm really starting to warm to). There are also the Eldar Jetbikes and a handy page telling us how much everything is. A good start as always - except there is nothing in this section you have not seen before; a collection of recycled images, but just bigger. As usual in Warhammer Visions there are a lot of shots where you have to run the page aspect to see them, which personally I think is annoying. The larger format does allow you to pull the pages apart more easily to see the top or the bottom of those images, but still...
The Forge World section has gone through a few changes in Warhammer Vision's lifetime, but it's back to two old releases with the exact same shots we saw in the White Dwarf. Wasted opportunity for Forge World to show off some great models in this enlarged format!
Now here's where this new format will shine - a chance to see Army of the Month in expanded glory - this month it's James Karch's combined force of Guard, Inquisition and Marines, plus a Knight or two!
We've seen James' amazing work before when his World Eaters force was published last year - and a truly epic force it is too. This force seems even larger. How does he find the time?!
Lots of great shots here - great work again, James!
We've seen James' amazing work before when his World Eaters force was published last year - and a truly epic force it is too. This force seems even larger. How does he find the time?!
Lots of great shots here - great work again, James!
After Army of the Month we move into Golden Demon 2014 from Warhammer Fest in Coventry. Some really nice models in here with beautiful detail and this Knight by Adam Skinner is a prime example.
So much detail!
So much detail!
As with last month, War Machines gets another run, this time with some interesting conversions including this Stormraven with added roof guns and LED lighting!
If you've ever wanted to see some really clean lines on Dark Angels or Blood Angels, then Paul Norton's miniatures need your attention. The clean lines and beautiful finish on the armour plates of his Blood Angels particularly is awesome. Again, this new size really allows the detail to shine.
'Eavy Metal unfortunately had some miniatures repeated from White Dwarf during the month, but these Dark Eldar Wracks by Neil Green are not only new but really interesting in their choice of colour.
Another army spotlighted this week is Dan Harden's Waaagh. Ork fans should check out this vehicle-heavy force and have a look at the weathering. Not over the top and really nicely done!
Here's a rare treat - Phil Kelly's personal Chaos Daemon Engines. Phil Kelly is of course best know for his work on numerous Codex including his longtime collaboration with Jes Goodwin on the Dark Eldar.
To their credit, Paint Splatter did what Paint Splatter should really do and gave us some alternate colour schemes - this time the Skitarii, Sicarians and Onager of the Metalica Titan Order. There's also a Mars Ruststalker in there for good measure! Again, this format does add to the detail we can all enjoy and learn from in these tutorials.
Verdict
As I said earlier, this change of format gave Games Workshop a huge amount of scope to make some sweeping changes to Warhammer Visions, in fact effectively relaunch it with all the feedback they have been receiving from the community.
Unfortunately they chose not to do that.
They chose to stay the course and in some ways actually go backwards to repeating content like the bad old days. With a month between issues there really isn't a lot of excuses for that
I reserved my judgement about the change of size for Warhammer Visions and I'm glad I did because it does improve the magazine a lot - there's more room to see, more detail to relish and really that's what this magazine is all about; the hobby!
Now they just need to take one thing into consideration - the audience.
Unfortunately they chose not to do that.
They chose to stay the course and in some ways actually go backwards to repeating content like the bad old days. With a month between issues there really isn't a lot of excuses for that
I reserved my judgement about the change of size for Warhammer Visions and I'm glad I did because it does improve the magazine a lot - there's more room to see, more detail to relish and really that's what this magazine is all about; the hobby!
Now they just need to take one thing into consideration - the audience.
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