White Dwarf #98 Review - Heralding The Age of $igmar!

12/12/2015

I know it's a bit cheeky, but despite the fact I sound a bit like a broken record, the prices on Age of Sigmar products are amazingly high - thus I'm now calling them: Age Of $igmar!!
When a single character can cost almost twice as much as an entire unit or the new Chaos Knights are 4 x the price of the old ones, it's not without foundation - but more on this increasing trend another time!
This week's White Dwarf only has one miniature release - but what a lovely release it is; the Gaunt Summoner.
Tzeentch is the Chaos God of Sorcery, amongst other things, and the Gaunt Summoners of Tzeentch are powerful beings beholden to Archaon and the Everchosen. Neat fluff!
Also in this issue is a new battle plan pitting Archaon against Nagash and the Armies of The Dead, there's some new books, the Horus Heresy readers guide part 2, an awesome Golden Demon tank, and a random 'Eavy Metal.
So is this issue worth buying?
+ + More After The Jump + +

The Gaunt Summoner of Tzeentch has to be one of my favourite models this year, and probably my favourite out of the Age of $igmar so far! Never really been a Tzeentch guy, but the mix of Pans Labyrinth influences on this model really appeals. He's also quite tall so would look great on the battlefield.
Now the thing is, we've seen a few characters released over the past weeks with the $50 AUS + price tag - well hold onto your boots, because this guy is $70 AUS! That's more than most current units cost.
Is this a beautiful model? Yes - Would he look great on the battlefield? Yes - Is he worth the price tag? No!

AGe of $igmar is definately the bent this issue with The Call of Archaon short stories getting compiled into The Call of Archaon. There is of course a deluxe edition which is all pretty-like, but no extras!

The Games Workshop licensed video games don't get that much of a look in, but here's a look at three of them; Vermintide, Blood Bowl 2 and Warhammer 40,000 Deathwatch - Enhanced Edition.
Also in the digital realm, there's digital reads, this time focusing on Space Wolves.

Paint Splatter is of course the miniature release of the week - The Gaunt Summoner.
The level of detail on the model we see in the shots earlier in the issue is so SO far above the standard shown in this article you may as well have used a different model.

Archaon vs. Nagash? Yes please, sir!
Using one of the Chaos Battletome: Everchosen battleplans we get a fairly decent battle report.

Texture. Yep, that's what this 'Eavy Metal is about. I get where they are going and the Skaven is a great example, but the Skitarii Ranger is an odd one. They use the metal as an example of texture.
Pretty sure that's patina not texture...

Dioramas rock and this one of a Grot tank and its attendants by Qianwei Shi from Warhammer World 2015 is a really great one. This won the Unbound category at Warhammer World and no wonder looking at all the detail and character that has gone into it.

As the Horus Heresy series gets more and more crowded and manages to butcher the existing fluff within an inch of it's life, it's important to have a guide - which is equally as confusing. This one lost me!!

Here's the Warscroll for The Gaunt Summoner of Tzeentch. Tell you what - the lad can move!

Verdict

This issue is a bit of a one trick pony.
Granted the pony is a pretty pony, but the pony is an expensive pony so interest has subsided some what!
Pot of Paint vs. White Dwarf
Pot of Paint!

6 Comments

ABOUT

In a time before 40k, there was a band of men and women who took part in gaming without the corporate sensibilities of today. Take a step back with us and also look upon the future through wizened eyes and curious ponderings of The Beardy Hammer!

From Commercial Radio salary slave, to gamer and toy collector (no MIB for this little black duck, thank you), find here my meanderings!

jeff

12/12/2015 19:18:44

i would think that a company should have to pay the reader to sit through the adverts, let alone pay attention to them... i had subscribed to white dwarf for maybe ten years before GW rotted from the top down. i stopped buying their paints about the same time. and i will never pay 70 (Australian) dollars for a single model. GW management has gone clean off the rails. soon, 40k and Fantasy will fully divorce from GW corporate, we will use minis from all companies, and return to the reason for pursuing this hobby in the first place, fellowship and meta-level reasoning. thanks for the review. it was a good read.

flappy

14/12/2015 15:00:42

Kids these days! Pass us the prune juice, luv...

14/12/2015 21:11:22

thing is, it is not the kids. it is the idiots my age. an entire generation raised into the financialization of Western economy. i trace it to milton friedman's assertion, that a business executive has only on duty and that is to vested stakeholders, i.e. capital. but, you can go much further back. i mean, christ's first act of violence, if you want to call it violence, was to toss the bankers out of the temple, and this has to do with the valuation of the future as a whole. see, if you manage the world economy, then you effectively control the lives, the birth and deaths and destinies of all of the people under that economy. enslaved, without better knowledge. this is the aim of global tyranny, and GW is simply a symptom of this transformation. but of course, this is so obvious it mostly goes without saying..

Beardy Hammer link

18/12/2015 00:22:13

Hello Jeff and Flappy,
Interesting points (even the prune juice).
GW have become victims of their own success. As the money rolls in, they stop hiring hobbyists to run the business and start hiring management and finance types.
Sure, they get money, but the business isn't ONLY about money, it's also about an audience who keep the money rolling in purely with good faith.
There's no free benefits or a points scheme - we buy the product they sell.
If someone comes along with a better product, we might buy that.
The thing is, I don't think the business people get that.
They see customers and money and market share, but they don't see that this is a HOBBY - become too expensive and people leave .
This current pricing structure is precisely what they don't need; less for more and no added incentive to buy.
That's a fundamental flaw in their plan.
Don't have an army building game where the armies are too expensive to buy.
Basic and stupid, but the business types aren't looking at the hobby, they're looking at the business.
Someone, somewhere is advising them very poorly!

Thanks for commenting .

18/12/2015 12:34:29

man, i want to be your neighbor.
that is exactly right.
trouble is,
most every corporate boss-type has been miseducated in the same way.

19/12/2015 23:03:46

That's true, Jeff .
In my industry most of the creative types have gone and its run by people who (a) don't understand the industry and (b) don't have a PASSION for it.
If GW was run by people who did, they would already have the knowledge because they ARE the audience.
Hire your biggest fans and most strident critics - innovation and change will be the result.

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